有用であるために、私は誓います
by Writing-Fantasy
Summary: 有用であるために、私は誓います (Yūyōdearu tame ni, watashi wa chikaimasu)- (phr.) "To be useful, I swear," To stay useful, and in so swearing it. - programmed to do this, programmed to do that... but i swear, it was me who chose to care for you. - Mainly eventual Tokazuichi, with some Togafuka, in the beginning. Characters may get OOC. Rated T for Toukazuichi ;)
1. i

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 **my touch is artificial, my breath artificial, my life is artificial,**

 **but my feeling are not.**

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 _"Robots!" blares the commercial loudly. "The future is here! Today we live in luxury due to our friends, the robots!"_

 _A cartoon robot dances on the screen joyfully, holding a broom and a dustpan. "Thanks to robots, we no longer have to take the time to do the minor jobs that are simply an inconvenience to mankind!"_

 _The robot begins to sweep up random grey dust clouds and the view pans out to show off a multitude of robots doing dangerous or tedious jobs. One cartoon robot is a car safety test robot, and the car he's in slams against a wall, blowing up. Somehow, the cartoon maintains it's cheerful attitude._

 _Another robot is in a mine underneath the sweeping bots feet, constantly hitting the stone with a pickax but smiling lively. Another robot is watching after a toddler and a baby, feeding the baby with it's artificial breast. The toddler holds it's hands, the animated bubble words of 'I love robots!' floating above his head._

 _"If you ever feel bad for a robot,_ don't! _They love their jobs as much as they love us!" the feminine voice informs._

 _"And when a robot malfunctions, simply get them rebooted!" a cartoon human who looked an awful lot like a mechanic reaches into the back of a twitching robot and pressed an emphasized red button with the word 'REBOOT' in bold letters above it. The robot jolted suddenly then went limp, eyes glowing green and a loading screen appearing on it's sensors. After three seconds, it straightened up, giving a thumbs up to the screen._

 _"The reboot not working? Send it to the spare part foundation, where they'll reuse your old robot to make an entirely brand new one!" A robot tinted green with a thermometer in its mouth and a heating pack on it's head is sent to a cartoon 'Spare Part Foundation' where it's placed on a conveyor belt. At the end of the conveyor belt is a box full of fire and as the robot got closer, more robots on the side of the conveyor belt popped open it's technical hat and power-core hatch. The robots yanked out a mass of wires, tangled with motherboards and data cards. It's power core was tugged out as well and the robot slumped over, useless and empty._

 _From there, the conveyor belt pushed it forward into the box of fire. On the side of the box, a facet poked out, and underneath that, a pan. Suddenly, melted metal oozed from the facet, pouring into bowl below it with the remnants of the old robot._

 _Once more, another robot comes onto the screen and picks up the pan, and carries it over to a metal mold where the metal is poured inside said mold. Before you could tell what is going on with the metal and the mold, the screen quickly flips to a bunch of robots organizing the mass of wires, motherboards and data cards. When the data cards were finished organizing, a robot took them to a computer to remove all the data, after that, the container of data cards were placed to the side._

 _Suddenly a new robot zooms past, collecting some wires, motherboards and cleaned data cards. The screen follows this robot into another room where a group of programming bots work, taking the data cards, wires and motherboards and programming them correctly before carefully arranging the mess of wires, data cards and motherboards into a whole system. A basket of power cores sit next to them and they are tested carefully._

 _Finally, the screen flips to taking the new technical system along with a power core, and the robot mold onto the screen with a bright blue background. A plus sign appears between the technical system with the power core and the metal mold before an equals sign appears right after the robot mold and a brand new robot cartoon appears on the end, waving happily._

 _"But that's not all, there are many different types of robots!" the peppy voice proclaims and the screen fades into an entirely new one. A clunky, silver robot stands on the edge of the screen, a whole line of different robots presented to the audience. Next to that robot is a thinner robot, silver holding a dust pan and broom like the one in the beginning. Some robots are tiny, things like the vacuum robot or cleaning bots (Not to be confused with the sweeper/trash bots), others are huge like the construction bots who stand confidently, righting buildings._

 _"And today's more modern robots, the AI bots!" The perky tone cries happily. The screen switches to that of a red curtain, just as it pulls back to reveal several robot examples._

 _One example is a busty lady with purple hair, waving flirtatiously-A pleasure bot. Another stands in a uniform blowing into a whistle, smiling and winking at the screen as it salutes-A safety protocol robot. The next robot watches after two children, the robot from earlier. She holds the baby up to her chest and holds the toddlers hands, still smiling-A caretaker bot. One bot stands in the middle of a set up classroom, teaching children-A teacher bot. Lastly, a small child robot and another child, talking and laughing-A companion bot._

 _"There are many more of our new and highly realistic bots out there, but these are just a few examples!" coos the voice._

 _Suddenly the screen transitions to a scene where humans and robots all hold hands, colored music notes flying above their heads as both the robots and the humans sway together in harmony. "Today, we have many robots and they are one of the main reasons we are living such a good life! " the voice explains._

 _"Let us remember, on our happy little planet, we must rely on the robots as they rely on us!" A cartoon picture of a clunky silver robot and a human show up on the screen, the human's arm wrapped over the metal shoulder joint of the robot while the robot throws it's slender arm over the human's._

 _"Our friends, the robots!" the voice concludes, still sounding breathless and happy._

 _The screen pans out to humans everywhere playing around with robots and their uses, everyone smiling and cheerful as they do their work without complaint._

 _..._

 _She stares at the screen._

 _"...This isn't entirely true,"_

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 **...**

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 _my eyes are melted shut with stardust..._

 **...**

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 _and the whispering breath of your lips caresses my cheeks..._

 **...**

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 _and i pray this stardust will brush past my eyes as you awaken me..._

 **...**

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 _with my fingers reaching forward, allow me to touch you as you are, bring down your wall..._

 **...**

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 _i shan't have dreams as i rest, but my head is filled with you..._

 **[Loading ERROR,]**

 **[REBOOT LAST 8%]**

 **...**

 **...**

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 _my thoughts aren't real, but of you, they are life-like..._

 **...**

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 _my head is filled of possibilities i cannot touch, but i hope..._

 **...**

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 _that in these echoing thoughts..._

 **...**

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 _you'll be mine..._

 **...**

 **[LOADING COMPLETE,]**

 **[WAKE UP PROCEDURE BEGIN]**

"Touko-san," a stern voice demands. Her focus sensors glare with the light of the morning outside her robot pod before centering on the figure before her, notes in green font blaring off the sides of her eyes. The blur clears away after a second and a person stands proudly before her.

He has stern blue eyes, staring down at her coldly, waiting for her to respond. With long white hair, combed back and a white beard following, draping off his chin. Wearing a butler uniform, he stands poise before her, back straight and filled with an air of confidence.

 **[FACE RECOGNITION: ALOYSIUS-SAN,]**

 **[BYAKUYA TOGAMI'S ROBOT CONTROL OVERSEER AND BUTLER]**

A shiver of electricity runs up and down her wires and joints, awakening her touch sensors. She twitches before stretching and standing. In her robot pod, there is nothing but the confining grey walls, a grey button in said wall and the wires connected into both her back and the enclosure's outlet for extra charging.

"Aloysius-san," Touko says, her voice a little shaky and still loading as part of the wake up procedure. Words flash in front of Aloysius' face, alerting her.

 **[VOICE RE-DOWNLOAD, VOCAL CHORDS FUNCTION,]**

 **[LOADING COMPLETE]**

"Touko, Young Master is almost awake and will require your presence in a little while," the man greets smoothly. He stares at her for a second longer before leaning down and helping her unplug from the charger system.

Normally, Touko isn't required to plug into the charge system, but last night was the robot count, where every robot serving underneath the Togami Clan had to plug in to be accounted for, just in case any of the AI's had tried to make a run for it.

Touko is a young AI, and although she knows the hardships of a realistic AI, she does not care. Byakuya-kun, her master, is a small child just as she and he relies on her greatly. She has it easy, but the Mistress AI's and servant AI's don't.

After taking the bundle of wires from Aloysius, she presses the single grey button in the wall and an alcove opens up, revealing a small closet of clothes and a small drawer. She opens the drawer, shoving in the wires and picking up her hair ties.

She is completely naked to Aloysius, but he holds no care for her body. In fact, after helping her unplug, he'd just left. Touko doesn't feel the need to close her robot pods doors though, so she continues on. She changes into her uniform before leaving the room, statistics already running through her head as she leaves the robot quarters.

Heading up the dingy stairs, she walks towards the elevators and slips inside with several other bots.

"Touko-chan~" coos one of the bots, tugging on her undone hair rather harshly. A tinge of pain blares through Touko's touch sensors, but she ignores it despite the pain statistics filling up the side of her right eye.

"You look awful today, I don't understand why they keep you around," one of the mistress bots say, also beginning to tug on her hair. Touko swats their large hands away with her small palm, looking at them blankly.

"She always looks awful!" pipes up one of the maid bots, giggling. The all robots within the elevator break into soft giggles, the only robots not giggling are the non-AI bots and some of the companion-bots. She ignores their biting words.

She wonders why it's her they always make fun of, the bot of the youngest child, the least likely child to become heir for the Togami clan (Despite this fact, Touko knows if anyone can win, it's him). She doesn't understand why they don't bully Mika, the bot of the oldest child or Satomi, the bot of the child rumored to be Togami-sama's favorite child so far who both are on the current elevator and watch the harassment with no emotion.

"So, did the reboot fix your stammering?" asks one of the servants, seemingly interested.

"Yes," Touko replies blandly. She's learned at this point to not say too much.

"We should change that, maybe then they'll really learn to get rid of you!" hisses another servant bot, pushing forward and brushing Touko's hair to the side, trying to break into her technical hatch. Touko doesn't fight back. They'll learn their lesson.

 **[HATCH DISTURBANCE]**

The words blare in front of her right eyes, panicky and Touko sighs.

 **[UNAUTHORIZED BOT DISTURBING HATCH]**

 **[ALLOW ACCESS?]**

 **[YES] [NO]**

She watches as the letters on the option **[NO]** tint a darker green before the whole question disappears altogether. The sound of her hatch locking doubly rings in the small space of the elevator and the bot trying to pry open her hatch yips with the power of a controlled shock.

The robots go silent and leave her alone, now whispering to each other secretly. On the ride upwards, Touko braids her hair into her normal, two long braids. Her fingers pause every time they stop at a floor and her grey, lilac eyes flick up towards the bright numbers displayed above the door to confirm it is not her floor.

After finishing the braids she stands silently, looking over the downloaded schedule for Byakuya as she adjusts her glasses. Although she is a robot and does not need the glasses, it was decided the glasses would be used to decorate her appearance and make her seem more human like in the eyes of Byakuya.

Finally, the floor full of rooms for potential heirs is reached and all the companion bots exit the robot elevator. The human elevator is extravagant, in the middle of the hallway rather than shoved awkwardly in the corner like the Robot's elevator.

Mika instantly splits off to the first door, knocking and waiting patiently for Katsu-sama. Touko, Satomi and Yui, another robot, continue down the hall. Satomi leaves the trio first and makes her way to the door of young Daiki-sama's room.

After a few more seconds of walking, Yui splits off to the door of Hachiro-sama. The door is instantly opened as soon as she knocks and she is ushered inside. Finally, at the end of the hall, Touko knocks on Byakuya's door.

There is a pause and the door is thrown open, a sleepy looking Byakuya staring out into the hall, Aloysius glancing out from behind him and looking a little alarmed that Byakuya had opened the door rather than Aloysius himself.

Touko bows respectfully. "Byakuya-sama," she says monotonously.

"Touko-chan!" whispers Byakuya excitedly, small hand grabbing hers. Her touch sensors instantly pick up on the warmth of his hand and how it is slightly damp with sweat.

He is still a child Touko must remind herself, that is why is not trained with more Togami like manners. A smile makes it's way onto Touko's lips as he pulls her into his room, shutting the door quietly behind him and dragging her over to his bed.

He quickly picks up his violin which lays on his bed and backs up to his music stand only to move forward again so he can push her to sit down on the comforters of the king-sized bed, looking excited.

"Listen, Listen!" he insists when she opens her mouth to ask what he's doing. He positions himself in front of his music stand again, lifting the violin underneath his pointed chin and taking a deep breath. He places the bow on the violin strings and begins to play in a soft motion of beautiful notes.

Her ears strain to recognize the beautiful tune and the title of the song flashes before her eyes.

 **[THE BACH CHACONNE IN D MINOR]**

 **ADDITIONAL INFO:**

 **...Created in 1717 to 1720, this piece was written by Johann Sebastian Bach...**

Touko dismisses the extra information and just listens. The song is rather long, but she endures it for Byakuya and when he finishes she gives him a cheer, raising her thin arms above her head in a sort of happiness.

Byakuya rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "I messed up on some of the high parts.. B-but I'm getting better at it!" the young boy exclaims, smiling innocently.

"Really? I didn't even notice!" Touko informs, smiling back even though her hearing sensors had informed her of the change in pitch and notes.

Byakuya smiles proudly, blushing shyly at Touko's praise but his mother, who had been sitting in the back of the room, interrupts them.

"Awful!" she hisses, standing up angrily. Byakuya flinches back. His mother, Lady Izumi storms up to Touko, yanking her off the large bed by her braids.

"T-Touko-chan!" Stammers Byakuya, watching in horror as Izumi slams the realistic AI bot to the ground. "K-Kaa-san, st-stop!" stutters the boy, grabbing onto his mother's arm, frantically tugging her away from beating up the bot.

Sharp pains blare through Touko, taunting her in a way as if to say this is the closest she'll ever get to being human.

 **[PAIN SENSORS OVERLOAD]**

 **[DEFENSE MECHANISMS ACTIVATING]**

 **[ATTACKER: LADY IZUMI,]**

 **[o;dm;;ERROR;;dm;s]**

 **[DO NOT ATTACK]**

Lady Izumi shoves her child aside, breathing heavily as she brushes blonde hair behind her shoulders. "Do not worry about her," spits Izumi to her son, _"She's a robot,"_

Byakuya blinks curiously, turning to her. "Ro...Robot?" he murmurs, sounding surprised. Up until now, Touko had always been considered human to him.

"Yes, she's nothing but metal and prosthetic skin over some mold, she's programmed to like everything you do. It shouldn't even be considered a she, it's a robot, my son. It's beneath us,"

Touko groans in pain, curling up in a ball as she hugs her abdomen.

 **[PAIN SENSORS OVERLOAD]**

 **[SHUTTING DOWN PAIN SENSORS MOMENTARILY]**

 **[SHUTDOWN 10% COMPLETE...]**

 **[LOADING... LOADING...]**

 **[SHUTDOWN COMPLETE, PAIN SENSORS SHUTTING OFF]**

The pain fades away to a dull throb until there is nothing. Blinking in relief, she clears her vision of any oil tears. Touko is not programmed to cry and does not have any tear ducts, so if her pain sensors overload and do not shutdown and she ends up crying, there is nothing but oil lodged in the ducts between her cheeks causing oil to leak like tears.

"B-but..." Byakuya argues weakly.

Izumi sighs, turning to her son. "Continue practicing that piece, my son, we can't afford any mistakes,"

"B-but Touko-chan-"

 _"-is a robot who's programmed to like everything you like,"_ interrupts his mother, repeating what she'd said earlier, her voice icy cold.

Touko desperately wants to argue back, tell Byakuya that she really _does_ like his music and is so, _so_ _happy_ he wanted to show it to her, of all things, that he wanted to share such a wonderful gift, with _her,_ of all robots.

Izumi eyes her with a burning loathing. "You must be malfunctioning again, you're supposed to tell him he messed up and needs to get better! I know your hearing sensors should've picked up on the mistakes, you piece of metal garbage,"

Touko stumbles back onto her feet, adjusting her glasses as she stares at Lady Izumi.

"I am sorry, my Lady. But I do what is found in best interest for Byakuya-sama," responds Touko.

Lady Izumi tsks, running a hand through her hair.

"I bet it was Lhamo, stupid bitch is always trying to interfere with my work.. She must've programmed something into it when it was charging," grumbles Izumi to herself. Shaking her head, she turns back to her child.

"Continue practicing, you have little time before your other lessons begin,"

Byakuya spares Touko one last glance before turning back to his music and beginning to play all over again.

 **|| Loading... ||**

"Touko-chan.." A voice whimpers softly.

 **[VOICE RECOGNITION: BYAKUYA-SAMA]**

 **[WAKE UP PROCEDURE BEGIN]**

After a few seconds of buffering, the room comes into Touko's sight. Blinking, Touko glances up from her spot in the corner of the room. Lady Izumi had retired to her room for the night already. Byakuya kneels in front of her, looking a little anxious.

 **[TIME 1:07 AM]**

 **[UNSCHEDULED WAKE UP FROM BYAKUYA-SAMA]**

"Hmm.. Byakuya-sama?" Asks Touko, allowing her focus to adjust. Moonlight from the window streams into the room, brightening the room considerably.

"I.." Byakuya sits in front of her, reaching out to clutch her hand.

Today, she is not needed in her pod, and she can stay in Byakuya's room just in case of an intruder.

"I had a n-nightmare," the 7 year old says, clutching her hand. "Kaa-san said I shouldn't depend on you, but.. I'm scared. Will you sleep with me?" he asks shyly, looking teary eyed.

Touko nods, standing up. Her glasses are on the table next to her, along with her folded uniform and hair ties. Now she wears a white night-gown that flows behind her as she walks behind him and into Byakuya's bed.

He slides into the bare bed, besides the plain white pillows and comforters, first. She slides in after him and he curls up against her, burying his face into her collarbone.

"...Touko-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you really a robot?"

"..." Touko hesitates because she wants to tell him no, she's not a robot because she is intelligent, she can think for herself but she cannot lie to Byakuya, it goes against her programming which shows she truly is a robot.

"Yes, I am a robot, Byakuya-sama,"

"...No wonder you're always so warm," Byakuya says absentmindedly.

Touko stifles a giggle with a soft breath through her lips, she'd never expect that sort of reaction from him, a child of the harsh Togami-sama.

"Hey, Touko?"

"Yes?" Touko replies again, going through her robotic functions and turning up her body heat to warm Byakuya some more.

"Can humans marry robots?"

Touko stiffens, surprised. "Well, there isn't a law prohibiting it but there isn't a law allowing it either," she answers honestly.

She wonders why he'd ask that, because if he was planning on marrying her it would be fruitless, she's a robot and while she may be equip with a growing function to match Byakuya or how she's equip with reproductive parts just in case Byakuya's needs call for it, there's no way she'd be able to give birth or truly be human with him or-

"Hm, I don't like girls, Kiku-nee-sama and Michi-nee-sama are girls and they're mean. I only like Touko-chan," Byakuya admits sleepily.

"Mm... I only like Byakuya-kun, too," confesses Touko, smiling into his hair.

Byakuya nods drowsily before relaxing in her arms, breathing shallows out. He's asleep.

This must've been the day, Touko began to feel truly real-To feel human.

 **[?;l?o;?;ERROR;?v?e;?;]**

 **[UNPROGRAMMED DATA DOWNLOADING]**

 **['?** **?** _ **L;**_ **;** oV **e** ; **;' DOWNLOAD COMPLETE]**

 **|| Loading... ||**

"Touko," a stern voice says. Touko peers up at 10 year old Byakuya-sama who gazes down at her through his glasses.

"Yes, Byakuya-sama?" she asks, standing up and brushing off the imaginary dust on her skirt.

His mother watches them from the corner of the room, glancing away from her magazine to stare at them. To Touko, her gaze is like a hot iron rod, pressed up against her back.

"Correct my paper," he demands, no longer using the word 'please'. That word is to only be used in front of opposing peers, to show who is truly in control. Besides, a robot like her doesn't deserve the word 'please,' rather to just be demanded of. It's what she's programmed for.

Touko's eyes scan over the paper full of problems, solving all of them in a few seconds. "100% c-correct, By-Byakuya-sama," Touko stammers, blinking in surprise at the stutter.

"Don't stammer," Byakuya says, voice snippy. "It's bothersome,"

"I ap-apologize, By-Byakuya-sama, th-there seems t-to be a d-disturbance i-in my pro-programming," Touko replies, fingers coming up to touch her throat where her mechanical voice box lays. "I-If you w-would l-like, I ca-can shut d-down and r-reload my vo-voice box t-to see i-if it re-resolves th-the problem," she compromises.

"Or we could throw you out," grumbles Lady Izumi from the corner of the room.

"No," Byakuya responds to his mother, voice far too cold for a ten-year old. He responds quickly as well, head snapping to the side so he can gaze coldly towards his mother. He turns to Touko next "No, It is alright, by the time I finish my next test, you will still be rebooting. I will simply deal with your incompetence for now," Byakuya explains, turning back to his desk to begin another test.

Touko stares at him, watching as he effortlessly answers the questions with 100% accuracy.

As soon as he finishes, turning to her she quickly says "I-It's all c-correct, Byakuya-sama,"

Byakuya spares her a glance and nods. He places the test to the side and begins to answer another test.

Figures and shapes obscure her vision as she checks over his work, the algebraic problems coming to life in front of her eyes.

"All c-correct, B-Byakuya-sama," Touko confirms once he finishes. Byakuya nods, turning to glance at her again. His blue eyes stare into lilac grey, and his hands creep atop hers which rests on the table. Touko says nothing, allowing him to do as he pleases.

Despite taking her hand in his, he continues to finish his test.

Touko says nothing, just smiles pleasantly as Byakuya continues on.

 **[fe;;?/ERROR/;?el/;;]**

 **|| Loading... ||**

"And the heir to the Togami Clan throne..." begins Togami-sama.

Today is the day that out of the fifteen children Togami-sama would pick the next heir and the rest would be disowned to the streets.

Tensions were running high in the room and the air is suffocating. Everyone is nervous, nobody wants to be thrown out.

Suddenly an AI bot strolls into the room, coming up behind Togami-sama and interrupting him by whispering something in his ear.

Togami-sama blinks in surprise before he huffs in irritation. "The reveal will have to wait a few moments," he says, leaving the room, the robot following obediently behind him.

"It'll obviously be Daiki-sama," brags Satomi, the robot AI stroking her master's hair lovingly. The teenage boy swats away her hand, smirking to himself.

"Oi, it'll probably be Katsu-sama," a nearby robot retorts. "He is the oldest,"

Touko sighs, leaning her head against the edge of Byakuya's chair. She believes in Byakuya, if anyone should win, it would be Byakuya. Hard-working, smart an over-all prodigy in everything... Still, a feeling of terror fills her stomach. Because if by some chance, it isn't him, he'll be forced to leave and they'll be separated. Touko doesn't want that.

After a few more moments, Togami-sama returns to the room looking rather annoyed. He walks up to the dais in the front of the room. He taps the microphone just in case and leans in to talk again.

"I will admit, this year I was rather surprised with who has shown the most potential out of the fifteen children," Togami-sama says.

 _Exactly,_ the youngest, everyone has always doubted him. But not Touko, _never Touko._

Before Togami-sama even says the name, Touko whispers to Byakuya, surely, confidently. "C-congratulations,"

Byakuya glances at her, a little surprised. She sees panic in his eyes, panic she'd last seen since he was seven. But that was six years ago, Byakuya now being thirteen. She smiles at him, lovingly, because she knows it _must_ be him.

"Byakuya Togami," Togami-sama proclaims and the room stills, shock blossoming. "My son, come up here,"

Byakuya glances at her in surprise but stands confidently, showing no fear as he walks to the front of the room.

Lady Izumi smiles widely, looking both relieved and devious, staring tauntingly at the shell-shocked mothers around the room. _Her_ son had become the heir, not theirs.

Some of the opponents off to the side are crying, scared of their fate now. Touko feels horrible for them, but at the same time ecstatic that she can stay with her beloved Byakuya. Touko watches as Byakuya holds a conversation with his father, answering back with pride. Togami-sama even smiles, chuckling at something Byakuya has said.

Byakuya glances at her, smiling lively, excited, happy. Her power-core burns with happiness, she could almost-

 **[WARNING]**

 **[OIL DUCTS LEAKING]**

 **[SHUTTING DOWN OIL SYSTEMS MOMENTARILY]**

 **[LOADING... LOADING...]**

 **[SHUT DOWN COMPLETE]**

 _-cry._ Never mind, seemed that wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

Togami-sama stands straight from talking to Byakuya and leans into the mic. "The rest of you must stay, as for the new heir, you may retire to your quarters, we will discuss more later,"

Byakuya smirks at the crowd, but there is sorrow in his eyes, sadness. Because now Byakuya must watch the people he considers opponents, but also family, leave his life for good.

Byakuya struts down the walkway where Touko and his mother meet him and leave the room together.

Once outside, Lady Izumi says she's going to stop downstairs at the kitchen and get something to eat, something about the choosing stressing her out before she turns to the second elevator and leaves.

"You knew," Byakuya says suddenly, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes as they make their way towards the other elevator.

"B-but of c-course," replies Touko, the stammering virus never having fully gone away.

"I've al-always believed B-Byakuya-sama w-would win," Touko admits, playing with her braid.

"Were you programmed to do that?"

"H-huh?" Touko responds, bewildered.

"Were you programmed to believe I would win?" Byakuya asks again, now daring to look at her.

"N-no, Byakuya-sama. I-it is j-just something I-I've held b-belief in s-since y-you were young," Touko answers timidly, feeling oddly nervously. Why did Byakuya want to know that?

"Hm," Byakuya says, and Touko's sensors pick up warmth curling over her left hand. She glances down at her hands, to see Byakuya has taken her hand in his. He says nothing and neither does Touko, despite her wanting to scream for some unknown reason.

 **[WARNING FACIAL FEATURES HEAT FUNCTIONS, CURRENTLY OVERHEATING]**

 **[SHUTTING DOWN HEAT FUNCTIONS]**

 **[LOADING... LOADING...]**

 **[op;;/ERROR/ms;;]**

The two say nothing as they arrive back to his room.

 **[PROGRAM 'FEELINGS' VIRUS INTACT]**

 **[FIGHTING PROGRAM CURRENTLY...]**

 **[LOADING.. LOADING...]**

 **[ERROR;;'FEELINGS']**

 **[DATA '?** **?** _ **L;**_ **;** oV **e** ; **;'** **FUNCTIONING, PROGRAM PROTECTED]**

 **|| Loading... ||**

His fingers curl roughly over her hair, tugging her against him more. Their lips are pressed together and Touko feels too shocked to try and fight back or say anything in general. Byakuya is preoccupied with trying to get her to respond to him, tongue twirling around her artificial one.

Finally, a muffled noise escapes her lips and he pulls away to stare at her with annoyance, looking peeved that she hasn't responded to him.

"B-Byakuya-sama, y-you're ex-extremely st-stressed, it'd b-be best f-for you to g-get some sl-sleep," stammers Touko, feeling her heating functions overheat her face again.

He stares at her blankly.

"Touko, what are you?" he asks, sounding rather impatient and moody.

"Wha-wha... U-uh.." Touko doesn't know how to answer this. Does his question mean in a literal sense?

"W-well.. I'm a r-robot..?" she answers unsurely, glancing away and raising her thumbnail to her lip to chew on it nervously.

Byakuya tsks, looking at her blandly.

"Stop that," he grumbles, gesturing to her mouth and thumbnail before he continues, "You're my servant AI bot, which means you listen to my orders," explains Byakuya like she's stupid.

"U-uhm... Y-yes, that i-is true, B-Byakuya-sama," responds Touko, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. She loves Byakuya, she really does, but this was a little too much and far too sudden.

"B-but I am n-not programmed i-in... _th-this_ sort o-of thing," she stutters, the words **[WARNING FACIAL FEATURES HEAT FUNCTIONS, CURRENTLY OVERHEATING]** blaring in red panicky letters before her eyes."I-I suggest y-you call f-for a p-pleasure b-bot, o-or even a mistress b-bot, I-I'm sure-"

"I'm not going to call for one of those... _Things_ when you're right here," Byakuya retorts, staring at her with a irritated expression.

"O-oh, my a-apologies, Byakuya-sama," Touko replies, still trying to wrap her head around the situation at hand.

The sixteen year old boy sits up, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. He'd just pulled an all-nighter to get his paper-work done and he is extremely stressed out.

 _Yes, he's stressed, that's why he's decided to kiss me,_ Touko convinces herself but in the back of her processors, she wants to believe he kissed her because he wants to.

Brushing stray hairs away from her face, Byakuya presses his lips back to hers, playing around with her hair.

Touko calms herself. She is his robot, and she is programmed to cater to his every need. And if his need is to kiss her... _Well..._

Touko responds slowly at first, simply moving her tongue against his, tentatively. She's barely ever eaten, since she doesn't need food and it feels strange to have something in her mouth. She shuts her eyes, letting Byakuya twist his tongue around hers, tugging gently and biting softly on her lips.

A faint _"Bya-Byakuya-sama!"_ escapes her lips in surprise and he pauses, tugging away from her.

"My name,"

"A-ano..?"

"Say my name again," Byakuya demands breathlessly, eyebrows furrowed together.

"By-Byakuya-sama," Touko repeats, voice a little lighter due to her lack of breath.

His reaction is instant, his fingers curling at the base of her head and tugging her back towards him, desperately cradling her against him as he resumes their kiss more fiercely than before.

Suddenly there is a knocking on his door and Byakuya pulls away once more, looking exasperated. He stands from of the bed, leaving Touko to her thoughts, and walks over to the door, pulling it open.

AI Satomi talks to him in a low voice and Byakuya responds, leaning against his door frame as they converse.

Touko takes the time to straighten her hair and stand up from the bed, going back to her duties of cleaning his room as if the kiss had never happened. She ignores the jealous bubbling in her head when Satomi giggles, twirling hair around her finger seductively. Satomi probably wanted Byakuya-sama to take her as one of his AI bots, as she'd been desperate for his attention ever since Daiki-sama was disowned from the family.

Letting out a sigh Touko shakes her head. She isn't human, and she won't ever be. She needs to stop hoping for a chance with..

 _No._ It won't ever happen and she needs to realize it.

Some things just aren't meant to be.

 **|| Loading... ||**

"Sir, I understand you want to protect Togami-sama, but downloading a second personality without the precautions is extremely dangerous! And-"

"Silence, Robot," responds Hayato, the Togami Head of Robot Management.

Touko fiddles with her hair, legs dangling off the side of the examination table.

An AI robot boy with blonde hair and grey eyes is currently trying to convince Hayato-sama not to download an emergency personality, should she shut-down or be hacked by a virus, without the extra precautions, which would cause the downloading to be at least a day long.

"Touko, look at me," Hayato demands haughtily. Glancing up from her fingers, she stares him in the face as her sensors begin to facially identify him.

 **[FACE RECOGNITION: HAYATO-SAMA]**

 **[TOGAMI HEAD ROBOT ADVISER; BOSS]**

"H-Hayato-sama," Touko mumbles, stammering.

Hayato frowns. "Still have that stammering virus? I don't understand why young master Togami simply just throws you out-"

"Hayato-sama," begins the other AI. Touko glances over to him and her facially recognition springs into action again.

 **[FACE RECOGNITION: ITSUKI-SAN]**

 **[APPRENTICE TO HAYATO-SAMA, ROBOT PROGRAMMER EXPERT]**

"Young Master Togami-sama could have you lose your job if you insult his AI as such! This one is his favorite, the one all Togami children are gifted before the choosing," Advises Itsuki, glancing nervously at Touko.

"Besides, isn't she the...?" Itsuki makes various gestures and Touko doesn't understand what he is implying.

"I'm th-the w-what?" Stammers Touko, eyebrows furrowing as she glances between the two.

"Your Byakuya-sama's AI," Itsuki instantly cuts in, looking very nervous, "I-it'd be bad for a vi-virus to infect your data,"

Touko has a feeling he's lying, in fact her processors respond with a 57% chance that he is indeed lying but Touko doesn't say anything.

Hayato sighs. "Enough of this nonsense, Byakuya-sama said he wanted his AI back soon and that'd he fire me if she arrived a second late. Besides, what are the possibilities that a virus really will infect her?" asks Hayato rhetorically, gesturing for Touko to turn over so he can get into her hatch.

Reluctantly, Touko turns around.

"You'll feel the electricity current, but don't fight it, that's just the personality downloading," Itsuki tells her, still sounding rather nervous. "Your sensors will probably tell you a virus is being downloaded, but that's just the extra personality... So uh, don't worry,"

Itsuki bites his lip, turning back towards Hayato-sama. "Uhm... Hayato-sama are you sure...? If there really is a virus she won't be able to tell us or..."

"Oh shut up, none of that will happen," retorts Hayato, plugging in the wires to her AI system.

 **[EMERGENCY PERSONALITY DOWNLOAD]**

 **[DOWNLOADING...]**

 **[ERROR-ERROR, VIRUS DETECTED]**

 **[BLOCKED FILE ';;Ge/no;;Syo;;' DOWNLOADING]**

 **[FIREWALL HAS BLOCKED VIRUS]**

 **[BLOCKED FILE 'Ge/no;;Syo;;' RE-DOWNLOAD]**

 **[DOWNLOADING...]**

 **[FILE SUCCESSFULLY DOWNLOADED]**

Touko's vision blurs and twitches to a sort of static, black and white. Several letters begin to pop up on her vision screen and she blinks in confusion.

 _ **G**_ _ **y**_ **a** H **a** _ **HAH**_ **Ah** _ **aHA**_ **ha** _ **hA**_ _HAHAh_ **Ahah** **a** ha _AHaha_ _ **A**_ _ **haha**_ _H_ AH **A** _ **HA~!**_

"Do you see text on your vision screen?" Itsuki asks.

Touko nods, eyebrows furrowing. This is some odd text for an Emergency personality download.

"Good! That means the download was successful," Hayato proclaims. He glances at his wrist, where a watch lays shining.

"Ah, and ten minutes to spare! Let me deliver her to Byakuya-sama," Hayato exclaims, grabbing Touko's arm as she shoves on her uniform shirt again.

 **|| Lo;;eRROR ERROR;;ad;;dingg... ||**

 _"She... ttacked Byaku... virus... mus...en the emergency downlo... throw her ou... useless..."_

Touko blinks herself awake, and the first thing she registers is that she is strapped to a robot containment table, metal chains clanking angrily against her wrists as she tries to sit up.

"Wh...Wha-what?" she stammers, looking at the chains on her wrists and feeling groggy.

 **[VIRUS INFILTRATING SYSTEM]**

 **[CONTROL MODE: AI TOUKO]**

 **[AI GE/NO;;SYO SHUT DOWN]**

Touko can barely register the panicky font in front of her eyes, blaring out into nothing as she stares at the people above her.

"Hello Touko-chan," Itsuki begins nervously.

"H-hello," she replies, hands pulling the chains taunt as she struggles.

"C-could you re-release me fr-from these ch-chains? I-I don't un-understand why..."

He eyes catch the nervous look on Hayato's face and the angered look on Togami-sama's face. Why Togami-sama would be here for a robot as measly as she is rather confusing. In fact, all of this is rather perplexing.

"You mean to tell me you downloaded a second personality without the safety protocol?" Togami-sama spits, looking outraged. He rubs his temples, looking absolutely done.

"Itsuki said there would be no problems!" lies Hayato. Itsuki stiffens, turning to Hayato.

"I did not, you lying bas-" Itsuki begins, trying to defend himself. Usually it was robot's word against a man/human in general, so it made sense to Touko why he would try to fight back. People always felt humans had to be correct and robots had to be wrong. As if they aren't programmed to be their best.

"Silence!" Togami-sama snarls. He sighs, looking tired.

"And because you downloaded the personality without the safety protocol, this AI has just tried to murder my heir,"

 _Murder... heir..?_

It hit her.

 _"Byakuya.."_ she whispers, eyes widening.

Her head snaps to Itsuki and she begins to struggle harder against the chains. "I-Itsuki! Pl-please tell m-me, is B-Byakuya-sama al-alright?!" asks Touko frantically, growling at the chains. She needs to make sure he's okay, _she needs to..._

"He's fine, but he was wounded," Itsuki assures her.

"Wh-where...? Wha-what happened?!" Touko demands frantically, scared for her precious Byakuya-sama.

Itsuki glances angrily at Hayato.

"Do you remember when Hayato and I downloaded that extra personality for emergencies?" Itsuki asks.

Touko nods hesitantly. "Y-you said th-there was a ri-risk of so-some virus, b-but Hayato-sama sa-said to download i-it anyways," recounts Touko

Togami-sama glares at Hayato, now having two witnesses against him, even though they are robots, it seems the blame can finally be pinned to him.

"Well, the virus is extremely bad, a day ago, the virus overtook you, going by the name 'Syo' and attacked Byakuya-sama with a pair of scissors. She stabbed his shoulder and was going to kill him but we managed to subdue her," Itsuki recalls.

Touko gasps, looking horrified and distressed. "I-I... I-is she g-gone? W-will y-you call a pr-programmer to g-get rid of h-her?" Touko asks, desperately needing answers.

Itsuki glances nervously at Togami-sama.

"T-Touko, you know I'm a top-notch programmer... I tried to find her in your data files, but she's like a snake, she can slide right into the next data card and through all your circuits. I can't get rid of her if I don't get rid of... _you,"_ admits Itsuki.

Touko feels her power-core run cold. "S-so you me-mean you g-gotta e-erase a-all of m-me to g-get rid of her?" asks Touko, sounding dumbfound.

"S-so... Wha-what are you gonna do?" inquires Touko, sounding hopeless.

"Well, your data cards are virtually useless, and the only thing really useful is your outer shell and your core," Itsuki informs her.

"Basically, we're trashing you," Hayato says, crossing his arms.

"Wh-what?!" Touko yelps, struggling even more. "B-but, B-Byakuya-sama, Wh-what will-"

"I have work to get to, just deactivate her already," Togami-sama interrupts, glancing at a golden watch on his wrist.

Itsuki flinches but creeps nearer. "I..I'm sorry Touko,"

"I-Itsuki, Pl-please, D-don't!" Begs Touko, thrashing.

 _I need to tell him, even if only once... Byakuya-sama..._ _Byakuya-sama!_

"I'm sorry, but.. It's for the Togami Clan..."

"She's useless now, just get it over with," Togami-sama snaps

Itsuki's fingers brush the area of her power-core, right where her heart would be had she been human.

 **[CORE DISTURBANCE]**

 **[AUTHORIZED BOT; ITSUKI-SAN]**

 **[OPENING HATCH]**

A blue glow illuminates the area and oily tears streak down Touko's cheeks. She doesn't want it to end like this, she has always thought maybe one day she'd get herself together and admit her feelings to Byakuya. Maybe he'd accept them, maybe he wouldn't, the point is that she'd at least said something, at least tried.

 **[CORE REMOVAL]**

 **[REMOVING CORE]**

 **[POWER SHUTTING OFF]**

The world grows dimmer and a single word escapes her lips and her struggling ceases.

 _"B..ya...ku...ya..."_

 _silence._

 **|| Shutting down...||**

 _ **AHAHAHA I HATE MYSELF.**_

 **I can't believe i'm writing this AU.**

 **I saw this prompt on tumblr and I honestly could NOT stop thinking about it.**

 **Basically the prompt is that Touko is a robot for Byakuya but she gets a virus personality which happens to be genocider Syo. Figuring it would cost less, they threw her out instead of searching for the virus at the root. Someone else by the name of KAZUICHI SOUDA (FIGHT ME) finds her and puts her back together and the rest plays out from there.**

 **Toukazuichi is my life but i was like hUH TOUKO GROWING UP WITH BYAKUYA MEANS I CAN MAKE BYAKUYA SLIGHTLY MORE EMOTIONAL? AND I DID.**

 **Albeit, Byakuya is still cold towards her because his mother has convinced him that robots are beneath them, but Byakuya still likes her anyways because i wANT HIM TOO EVEN IF IT IS OOC YOU CAN FIGHT ME. PLUS THEY GREW UP TOGETHER SO OF COURSE THEY'RE GONNA BE CLOSE, JUST LIKE HIM AND ALOYSIUS IS.**

 **ANYWAYS, I HaVE FINISHED THE SECOND CHAPTER AND AM CURRENTLY EDITING IT AS YOU READ THIS (MAYBE, UNLESS YOU'RE READING THIS WHENTHE SECOND CHAPTER IS ALREADY OUT OR IF THIS FIC IS FINISHED. IF I EVER FINISH IT). I'm really puMPed fOR THIs sTORY YEAHHH.**

 **Also, the reason why Touko is extremely OOC (barely stuttering in the beginning, not accusing anyone) is because she hasn't gone through anything traumatizing, or at least remembers anything traumatizing. Like yeah, she was picked on by the other bots, but nothing else has really happened to her.**

 **As for her stuttering, she's a robot so obviously it's a virus for her. But since she is a robot for Byakuya it's easy for her to simply get the virus out. It keeps coming back, however. our poor baby.**

 **Her fears will play out in the next chapter however, aND WE'LL ALSO MEET KAZUICHI YEAHHHH**

 **Anyways, I thought I'd just clear that up before I continued.**

 **I think I'll update this Wednesday, Maybe a little further so I can catch up with the second+third chapter. On my wattpad account I'm also writing another fic called 'Reach me' but it's PJO fanfiction so I highly doubt any of you would like to check that out.**

 **See ya' soon!**

 **Writing-Fantasy**

 **DISCLAIMER FOR THE ENTIRE STORY, I'M ONLY GONNA SAY THIS ONCE.**

 **I DO NOT own Danganronpa under any circumstances. If I did, everybody would be alive because Junko would ultimately change her mind as she began to viciously ship all the students together and realized she didn't want them dead until they all started dating and at least did the deed once.**

 **because why not.**


	2. ii

**|| Loading... ||**

 **programmed to do this, programmed to do that..**

 **but i swear,**

 **it was me who chose to care for you.**

 **|| Loading... ||**

 _'I Lowe Rodots'_

 _He stares at the words, eyes narrowing._ No, that's not it.

 _His brain is mean to him, and words are jumbled on the screen as he squints, piecing the words together. They said it's something like 'Dis-lexa' or whatever, he can't exactly remember._

 _"I... L-ov-e Ro-b-ots," sounds out the young boy. He blinks after a second, smiling widely, shark-like teeth shining. He turns to the lady by his side, climbing into her lap and humming._

 _"Ya' hear that Aimi-chan? I said it right!" The boy cheers, throwing his small hands into the air._

 _The chestnut haired lady smiles at the boy, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Ahh... I did hear, Zuizui-chan, I'm so proud of you!" laughs the lady, nuzzling his nose with hers. The boy breaks into giggles, playing with her soft hair._

 _"They're just like us," the young boy says, pointing towards the paused commercial on their TV. On the screen there is a multitude of robots, some realistic, others large with silver bots and clearly made of metal. Since it is paused, many of them are frozen in their tasks, like one who is a car safety test robot has just collided into a wall and is in the midst of the explosion, face locked in a smile that feels a little odd for a robot who is being blown up currently._

 _There are others on the screen, besides the main sweeper bot there are construction bots in the background, helping create a new skyscraper and a miner bot beneath the main sweeper robot's feet. However, none of them is whom the boy points out, instead he points at the young toddler boy holding the hand of the nanny-bot, smiling with the words 'I love robots!' above his head._

 _The nanny-bot nods at the boy in her arms. "It sure is, Zuizui-chan," responds the lady, cuddling the boy against her plush body. For an AI bot she is rather chubby, her soft form comfortable to cuddle against._

 _She unpauses the commercial allowing the cartoon to play on. She frowns when she catches sight of the robot being torn apart. The boy in her lap whimpers, tugging the hat on his head over his eyes._

 _She pauses the commercial again, turning the boy to look at her. She tilts her head, lowering her head so she can stare underneath his hat and look into his magenta eyes._

 _"Is something wrong, Zuizui-chan?" she asks, hands gently caressing the sides of his head._

 _The boy peaks out from the hay. "I dun' like this part!" he sniffles, tears starting to trail out of his eyes._

 _The lady glances at the screen, the cartoon robot had just been dropped into the box of fire and metal was oozing from the facet off the side of the box._

 _"Mmmm... I don't like this part either, let's skip it, alright?" she replies, taking the control in her hand and pressing the forward button. As she does so, the boy continues to talk._

 _"Hey, Aimi-chan?"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"Will that ever happen to you?"_

 _The AI bot blinks, allowing her eyes to focus in on the child again. "What do you mean by that?" asks the lady, running her fingers through the child's hair soothingly and brushing the hat further backwards. She knows what he means, but she wants to make sure. Or maybe she's simply stalling the inevitable answer to this question._

 _"Will you ever get sent to that place? That... Spare parts foun-da-tion?" questions the little boy, holding to her hand tightly._

 _Aimi hesitates, but opens her mouth to tell him the truth. "Well... If I ever get a bad virus or a reboot doesn't work then-"_

 _"N-No!" the boy cries instantly, slamming his tiny palms over her mouth. "N-no, lez stop talkin' 'bout this," the little boy interrupts, bringing his palms away from her lips._

 _"S-sorry for interupptin' ya' Aimi-chan," the boy apologizes right after._

 _"No, it's fine. Just don't do that to other people, alright?" the nanny-bot says, giving him a playful wink._

 _The boy nods in response. "O-Okay!" he cheers, smiling brightly._

 _"I won' do that to anyone, pr'mise!" The young boy swears, giggling beneath his stubby fingers._

 _"You better keep it," says the bot ominously. The boy blinks, surprised at her 'scary' tone._

 _"huh?"_

 _"because if you don't..." there was a dramatic pause and the boy looks ready to pull down his hat again. "..I'll have to... TICKLE YOU!" the bot laughs, reaching between the boys sides and prodding gently._

 _The boy broke out into a fit of giggles, swatting her hands away. "Aimi-chan, Aimi-chan! I won't, I won't!" cries the young boy, laughing._

 _The nanny-bot laughs, running her hands through his hair again. "That's what I thought, Zuizui-chan," hums the bot, nuzzling her cheek in his black hair that peeks out of his hat._

 _Her lips thin, a feeling of horror at the thought of abandoning the young child now. "I won't go to the spare parts foundation, at least, not now, while you still need me," The robot says, closing her eyes and trying not to think about that. She places her head on his head, weary not to put her full weight on him._

 _"What if I need ya' forever?" asks the boy, leaning backwards to look at her without turning his head._

 _"Then I guess I'll just have to stay with you until 'forever' ends," replies the bot, smiling at the boy._

 _Giggling again, the boy snuggles against her more, arms wrapping around her side and face buried in the crook of her neck._

 _"I love Aimi-chan. I dun want Aimi-chan to ever leave," the little boy admits, laying his head on her shoulder._

 _"I don't want to ever leave either," the robot confesses, feeling emotional despite being a AI bot._

 _Hugging the child closer, she allows her oil ducts to be shut off and holds him close._

 _She isn't programmed to care, but she does anyways._

 **|| Loading... ||**

Kazuichi looks up to the blue sky, sun beating against his back. He groans in exhaustion mixed with slight boredom, wiping sweat off his forehead as he leans down and scavenges through the newest dumping of Robot parts.

If his classmates saw him now, they'd probably make fun of him, but Kazuichi can care less. While he does have the money to by the robotic parts he needs, it's cheaper just to find usable, old part so he'll just pluck them from the seemingly useless piles of robotic waste.

Usually, people will think something of the robot is broken and throw it out, but Kazuichi knows better. Oh, those parts are still so useful. People just didn't know how to repair things with the simplest of tweaks, just a dab of super glue or some duct-tape could fix things people deemed useless.

"Score!" he cries to himself, reaching down to grab a full, rusted metal robot. He whistles to himself, throwing it onto his hovering wagon which he drags lightly behind him, knocking over all sorts of parts and basking in the echoing of ringing metals.

With his blue tracksuit on, the upper half tied around his waist to reveal his white muscle tee, he clambers through the metal, wary not to scrape himself on any of the rusty objects.

Trudging up a hill of metals, he reaches the top, wiping his brow again. It is a surprisingly nice day, hotter than Kazuichi expected, but other than that it was alright. Light reflects from the discarded metal blare through the clear skies like miniature suns. Scanning the land around him, his blood grows cold when he inspects the bottom of the metal pile.

On the other side, at the foot of the hill of metals, is a female body, curled in a fetal position. Long, purple hair is strewn about her body, covering her. A pair of glasses lay slanted on her nose, the only thing she is currently wearing. Her eyes are shut, cheeks stained with oil.

 _What has happened? Is she dead? Is she the body of a rape and murder?_ Kazuichi has heard that is isn't unusual to dump bodies in the metal parts waste but he's never had a run in with a body before.

Kazuichi bolts down the mountain of metal, panic searing through his veins. Frantically he turns her to fully face him. Long, purple hair drapes down her body like a dress, the oil on her cheeks dripping down her neck and smudging underneath her left eye. Kazuichi avoids shaking her, scared she may have a painfully injury that could be disturbed. He pushes her hair out of the way, turning to find a wound of any sort to prove she truly is dead or hurt. However, after her hair is brushed to the side, Kazuichi finally takes sight of the open hatch on her chest, a core pod empty. His panic melts into confusion.

It's an AI bot.

 _But why would someone throw out a whole AI bot?_

AI bots are extremely expensive, since creating them requires prosthetic skin, a specific mold and special programming as well as safe energy created through prosthetic lung movements (mimicking breathing).

As if unable to believe she truly is an AI bot he turns her over again, exposing the unlocked technical hatch. Everything is in place, nothing has been touched. The wires are in prime condition, the motherboard untouched the only odd part is that her memory cards are missing. In fact, there doesn't even seem to be a place to lock memory cards into place. Kazuichi shrugs off the doubt, she's either an old AI bot, back when Memory cards were bulky things located farther into the bot or an extremely modern AI bot where memories could be wirelessly stored, or located within a power-core.

Now that he looked harder, she even has an application box for extra enhancements, things like night vision, but it's empty for her.

Kazuichi turns her back around once more, staring into her troubled face which looked utterly heartbroken. The world has always taught humans robots are beneath them but Kazuichi has always known better.

Robots are better than humans, in some circumstances. They are compassionate, sympathetic, loving and caring. Whoever seemed to inactivate this robot must've upset the bot so much it began to leak oil tears.

While it had been written in their countless textbooks that robots held no feelings what-so-ever, Kazuichi has always known better. The oil on this abandoned bots cheeks have to be there for a reason.

Sighing, Kazuichi strips off his muscle tee, sliding it over the AI's body to cover her. Thank god she is a small, petite thing because it covers her like a dress while her hair covers her even more. Turning to his wagon, he pushes out the metal robot and organizes the parts he'd raided before placing her inside the cart gently.

She looks as though she is sleeping, but her chest does not move and her eyelids do not twitch and suddenly she looks dead to Kazuichi. That thought makes Kazuichi's blood go cold.

His hand brushes on her cheek, smudging the oil. Her face fits into the palm of his cheek, prosthetic skin cold. He isn't going to leave her here, because not only is she an expensive AI bot, but no bot should be forced to have an ending as such.

He glances back at the metal bot on the ground, feeling guilty.

"I'll come back for ya' later," he says to the limp metal figure, as if it could still understand him. His lips purse, god, he really is going crazy-Almost as crazy as his occult classmate, Gundam. He grumbles to himself. Fucking _Gundam._

Sighing, he turns to look at the female AI and he swears her eyelids twitch before he finally says to her "I'll put you back together again,"

Somehow, he feels she has heard this.

 **|| Loading... ||**

Touko never really cared for darkness, but the current darkness she stands in feels threatening, like it shouldn't be around her. She's hasn't felt this kind of fear since the choosing, since she feared that Byakuya may not have actually became the heir.

And yet, it's too dark, impossibly dark and yet she can see every detail on her clear as day. Everything else is blackness, a shadowy chasm of nothingness.

 _"useless,"_

the word rings clearly in the void of her mind. She's been shut down, hasn't she? Whimpering, she pulls her hands through her hair. Well, those AI bots back at the Togami Clan finally got their wish, she's gone, inactivated, probably getting melted down at this point, wires organized and memory cards ready to be cleared. And when they are, she'll be cleared too, along with the awful virus.

There is something else in the darkness that Touko refuses to acknowledge. It is not a light in front of her, not beside her or really around her, rather underneath her very own feet, a reflection.

But she knows it is not her. Touko is not programmed to have her tongue jutting out like a snake or for her rotatable teeth to sharpen to shark points. She is not programmed to have wavy, red eyes that seemingly quake in their sockets. She is not programmed to stand tall with a confidence only Byakuya-sama should have, rather to hunch over slightly, normally, to show that Byakuya-sama is better than she.

And yet, all of that lays in the reflection beneath her feet. Startling, isn't it? One moment she's living, praying to a god she doesn't believe in that he'll glance towards her, that'll he'll cherish her like she's always dreamed and the next there's a person who looks almost exactly like her, taking everything she'd _dreamed, hoped, cared,_ _loved_ away. They'd taken the things she'd never been programmed to do, but wanted to do. They'd taken away her only humane qualities, leaving her to fend for herself in a soon to be erased memory card, stuck with this _'Ge/no;;Syo'_ virus.

It feels a little too unreal to be true, but Touko knows it must, for the monster lies beneath her, cackling.

 _"useless,"_

the word repeats itself and Touko finds she hates the word because it describes her. Togami-sama is always right, his decisions are always right, his opinions are always right. Whether this had been programmed into her or not doesn't matter, she'd grown up with such thoughts told to her everyday.

Togami-sama is right, Byakuya-sama is right, if your views counter theirs, you are wrong.

She's always been wrong, wrong to hope for his love and praise, wrong to dream she could ever be deemed human, wrong to love someone she never could.

The darkness seems to close in around her, billowing like mist around her timid figure. She's scared, oh, so scared. She's never been afraid of the dark, she'd always had her night-vision, but now she doesn't and her eyes are full of untrustworthy shadows.

 _"useless,"_

She wants to cry but she knows she can't. She isn't built for crying. Wasn't programmed for that. (The only bot programmed to cry were pleasure bots, apparently it was some sick kink)

"Why do ya' reckon that fuckass voice keeps talkin'?" yaps Syo, glancing around as the word echos in their mindscape.

Touko doesn't reply, still staring fearfully at the billowing black smoke.

"Ugh, yer gonna haf'ta talk at some point, Gloomy!" yells Syo, annoyed.

"...Why'd you do it?" Touko responds, a few seconds after Syo had yelled.

"Eh? You say somethin', gloomy?"

"Why'd you attack Byakuya-sama?" Touko asks again, still sounding timid. The darkness is closing in, oh so slowly, creeping along the dark floors towards her bare body that is smoothed of feminine details like a doll's plastic body in this dreamscape.

"That? Gyahaha~! This _By-a-ku-ya_ guy is real fuckin' hot, so I wanted to kill him!" laughs Syo in response, as if that is all the reason to attempt to murder him.

"...Because of that, we'll both by destroyed, and I won't ever get to tell him my feelings or see his face again. I won't..."

"Oi, quit yappin', if we're gonna end I don't wanna hear ya' blubber out yer missed out wishes, talkin' like _'I'm sooOOooOoo~ upset because I'll never get'ta be a fuckin' meat flesh-fuck, oopsies, I meant human~!'_ " mocks Syo, crossing her arms as she glares into nothing.

Touko finally dares to glance down at Syo, staring her straight into her red eyes.

"Was it wrong of me to wish so?" she asks, feeling bold against the virus within her.

Syo raises a brow, pursing her lips as if she hadn't been expecting that question. "Well, not really, but ya' should'a figured it'd never work out. I mean, we've got the parts ta _'do the do'_ , if ya' know what I mean so it wouldn't be impossible ta get a ride before he got married off, ya' know!?" cackles Syo, clutching her stomach as she chuckles loudly.

"I am beneath him, a robot," Touko says suddenly, hands coming up to her bare chest. The ache... It _hurts,_ why does it hurt? Usually there are statistics blaring, telling Touko the extent of her pain but there are none now, and she must hurt without knowing why.

"but when I was with him, he made me feel human," whispers Touko, as if it'd been forbidden to ever try and remotely feel humane. "I felt want, I felt need, desire, craving. I felt love and care and hope and worry. I felt so many things a robot should never feel because of him. I was happy, so.. so happy,"

Now Touko is crying, unable to hold back the oily tears streaming down her porcelain white cheeks.

"I.. I just wanted to feel like that forever, even if it meant he never loved me back. I just wanted to stay by his side," sobs Touko, trying to wipe away the tears staining her face.

Syo has gone silent, no longer looking at Touko but to something else on her side of the reflection.

"I miss him, I miss Byakuya-sama," Touko admits, thought it really isn't much of a confession since it was obvious from the start she'd missed him.

"I wanna go back, I wanna go back to Byakuya-sama and stay by his side, no matter what," she exclaims, sniffling now.

 _"useless,"_

Syo huffs at the voice, eyebrows furrowing and nose scrunching up. "Dumb shit needa shut up. Just stop thinkin' about it, gloomy," grumbles Syo, looking annoyed.

There is a static-like noise after she speaks and muffled words blare through both of their little areas. More static until finally a soft, barely audible voice breaks through the rouch, uneven noises and into their mind, echoing.

 _"I'll put you back together again,"_

Touko glances around frantically, looking hopefully. "Byakuya-sama?" she whispers, sniffling again.

"He... Did he come back for me?" she asks quietly to no one really, perhaps to herself.

Syo doesn't respond, simply staring into the nothingness, lolling tongue receding into her mouth. "I highly doubt it," she replies, her snake-like tongue flicking lazily in the air with every word.

"Point is, looks like we ain't gettin' trashed today, huh?" Syo says nonchalantly, but Touko isn't listening.

"No... It can't be Byakuya. It's probably just one of my delusional fantasies playing before we get erased. After all, who would want a mess up bot like me?"

She'd be surprised.

 **|| Loading... ||**

The power-core cost a lot of money. But damn, Kazuichi wants to see her work, wants to know what type of bot she is, wants to met her, talk to her, see her skills.

He's been working on her for a while, making sure she is in pristine condition as he goes over her.

He finds out why she's so well kept, discovering she used to belong to the Togami Clan by the stamp of property on the back of her neck. However, the ownership card is missing from the card panels in her technical hatch, proving they really threw her out.

No worries for Kazuichi, he simply inserted his own ownership card into the bot (You had to be at least sixteen to own a bot, Eighteen to own a pleasure bot, so if she is a mistress bot, he'd have to take out the card or risk getting arrested). Then, he removed the stamp off her prosthetic skin. He cleaned the black stains off her cheeks as well as cleared the oily-gunk between her eyelids. She'd must've had a leaky oil hatch (Just like Aimi-chan), no wonder she cries oil tears.

The power-core glows bright blue on the small tool table beside him. He clears the dust and gunk collected in the core pod, replacing rusty screws that are in the core containment holder.

Finally she is ready. Kazuichi glances at her. He'd doesn't have anything that fit her feminine body, so he'd just let her wear one of his sweaters and a pair of his boxers. Since she was so small, it covers her (albeit, the boxers were slipping, but it was the smallest thing he had that worked as pants).

Taking a deep breath, Kazuichi grabs the power core off the side table and pops open the power-core hatch.

He glances back towards her troubled face, frozen in time.

He wants to make her smile and keep her happy because he never had the chance to do just that for another bot, out there, somewhere.

Sighing, he musters his courage and places the power-core into the slot.

The bulb of power sparks blue and the wires around it begin to glow. The lines of blue travel into the body of the bot and Kazuichi closes the hatch and pulls up the sweater more.

Now, he waits.

 **|| Loading... ||**

Touko doesn't know how she feels when the shadowy darkness flashes into a glowy, blue land, burning bright. Text begins to glow brightly before her eyes and Syo's reflection beneath her disappears completely.

 **[POWER CORE INSERTED]**

 **[RESETTING]**

 **[POWERING UP]**

 **[LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...]**

Huh...?

Touko's heart (or whatever, her new power-core, possibly?) feels like it's speeding up, sending pulsing thrums through her body as she begins to awaken.

Had Byakuya-sama found her? Realized he hadn't wanted her thrown out? Maybe that's why Syo disappeared, they'd hired a programmer to delete the virus-

 **[CONTROL MODE: AI TOUKO]**

 **[AI GE/NO;;SYO: SHUT DOWN]**

Touko's throat closes up but she says nothing to the emptiness before her. The world around her begins to disappear in pixels, floating and disappearing. Then, like the just like the world, Touko begins to disappear, chunks of her skin and hair pixelating and floating away from her before disappearing altogether.

 **[ERROR, ERROR]**

 **[NEW AUTHORIZED OWNER]**

 _huh?_

 **[SOUDA KAZUICHI, CURRENT OWNER]**

 _what?_

 **[FORMER AUTHORIZED BOT PRIVILEGES DELETED]**

 **[CURRENTLY: ONE AUTHORIZED FIGURE]**

 **[LOADING COMPLETE]**

 **[WAKE UP PROCEDURE BEGIN]**

The world glows blindingly before her, and she blinks away the glare of light. Her eyes begin to focus on the blurry figure staring down at her. Whoever it is has a giant hot-pink blob on their head.

Touko blinks rapidly and finally her eyes focus.

 **[FACE RECOGNITION: KAZUICHI SOUDA]**

 **[NEW OWNER, MECHANIC, SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD]**

She wants to scream, open her mouth and yell what the hell is going on but she doesn't because the words are lodged somewhere in her processing system, still loading and jamming her thoughts together.

She opens her mouth to finally ask what's going on but the only word that falls from her mouth is a timid, scared-

 _"By-a-ku-ya-sama?"_

Her voice sounds scratchy and more loading stats appear in her vision.

 **[VOCAL CHORDS ERROR, VOICE RE-DOWNLOAD BEGIN]**

She sits up, scooting away from this mysterious _'Kazuichi'_ figure.

"Bya-kuy-a?" sounds out the teen, nose scrunching together in confusion. "What'da mean by... Oh, ya' mean yer' old owner?" he asks.

 **[VOICE RECOGNITION SAVED: KAZUICHI SOUDA]**

 **[VOICE FILE FOR 'KAZUICHI SOUDA' DOWNLOADING]**

"o..Old owner?" asks Touko, not stammering but her voice still sounding scratchy. Hm, seemed the stammering had been washed away with the reset.

The guy nods, glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Err, yea. It seems yer' old owner, this Bya-kuya guy threw ya' out so I took you back to my house and fixed you up," explains Kazuichi, frowning as soon as the words came out of his mouth. That's a very direct answer, and maybe a little to bitter to take for a bot who'd just been shut down for who knows how long.

 **[VOICE RE-DOWNLOAD COMPLETE, VOCAL CHORDS FUNCTIONS OPERATING]**

Touko feels her breath catch and her lungs stop operating.

Threw her out...?

he really had, she'd been useless this whole time. How wrong of her to hope that maybe... Maybe he'd actually cared over a _stupid bot like her-_

 **[LUNG MECHANISMS ERROR]**

 **[LUNG ENERGY SHUT DOWN]**

 **[EMERGENCY ENERGY; POWER-CORE TRANSFER]**

 **[LUNG MECHANISMS RE-STARTING]**

Touko shrinks into her form, realizing she isn't even in her normal uniform, rather in a soft sweater and a pair of colorful race-car boxers. She glances back up at the human, or rather, her new master.

"Oh, that, err.. Sorry, I don't really have any girl clothes or anythin' so I just..." he makes rapid gestures, as if Touko will somehow understand his idiotic fumbling.

"I-I see," Touko mumbles bitterly, still feeling utterly hopeless.

So Byakuya-sama really had thrown her out...? She really had been _useless_ to him, nothing but an inconvenience. She feels sick, curling her arms around her figure as if to hug herself.

 **[LUNG MECHANISMS RE-STARTED SUCCESSFUL]**

 **[ENERGY TRANSFER BACK TO LUNG MECHANISMS]**

For once in her life, Touko wants to scratch out her own eyes with that cursed text, proving she is nothing but a programmed bot, nothing but beneath the feet of a human. That she is disposable if unwanted.

"So... What type of bot are ya'?" asks Kazuichi asks, looking at her.

"Wh-what does it ma-matter?" stammers Touko in response.

 **[VOICE ERROR]**

 **[VIRUS DETECTED]**

 **[UNABLE TO RESET CURRENTLY]**

"I-I'm useless e-either way, j-just some me-metal trash pr-programmed to l-like everything m-my owner likes," she hisses, fingers digging into her prosthetic skin. Her pain sensors spout statistics of pain, and the level it has to be at before they can successfully shut down but Touko doesn't care, this pain makes her feel just a little human.

Lady Izumi had been right. She's nothing but a piece of metal garbage with a human mold and prosthetic skin, some sort of wannabe-human full of wires and programming instead of a heart.

Kazuichi frowns, standing. "I don't think that, I think every bot is useful in their own way," he proclaims, walking up in front of her and leaning against the table by pressing his elbow down and putting his chin in his palms.

Touko peaks out at him from between her knees where she has buried her face.

"A-and what d-do you know? Y-you're a me-mechanic! O-of course y-you'll think all ro-robots are useful, y-you're practically pr-programmed that way! Y-you're n-not like B-Byakuya-sama, y-you're not a h-heir to o-one of the m-most important c-clans in th-the world. B-Byakuya-sama k-knows trash when h-he sees it and c-clearly I must b-be g-garbage if he t-threw me out. Not even t-to the sp-spare part fo-foundation either, it seems. A-almost l-like he wanted me t-to suffer f-for being incompetent," rants Touko, tugging on her hair frantically.

"It's th-these stupid v-viruses. F-first t-this st-stutter virus, th-then that S-syo virus. Ugh, I-I'm so useless, j-just throw m-me out. I'm n-not even wo-worth it," Touko concludes, pressing her face back into her knees shamefully.

Kazuichi sighs, now bringing himself to sit on the table, legs dangling off the side as he turns to Touko.

"I'm not gettin' rid of you," he says sternly. Touko is slightly irritated how he keeps switching between _'You'_ and _'Ya'_ because it just.. Feels odd. Byakuya had never said that word _'you'_ as _'ya'_ and just hearing Kazuichi switch them out constantly feels awkwardly.

"Th-then why th-the hell are y-you keeping me? L-looking for s-some sort of pl-pleasure bot? Are y-you going t-to use me as so-some sort of twisted s-substitute? N-newsflash, I'm a companion bot," Touko accuses bluntly.

Kazuichi shrieks in embarrassment at the accusations, jumping about so quickly he falls off the table.

"N-no! I'm just sayin' that I'm not gonna get rid of ya! Look, I don't know what the hell this little Togami-Heir fuck did ta' ya', but I'm not gonna throw you out,"

Touko doesn't believe him, even though her processors say there is only a 23% chance he is lying.

"N-no you're t-trying to tr-trick me, aren't y-you? Build u-up my n-nonexistent h-hope and then cr-crush it. Th-this is some sort of prank, i-isn't it? D-do you f-find enjoyment i-in t-torturing bots?" Touko declares, shaking her head in disbelief as she uncoils from her former position.

"Wh-wha..?! No!" Kazuichi sputters, looking stricken. "No way. Here, lemme tell you something alright? I was raise by a nanny bot 'cause my father sure as hell wasn't gonna stick around and my mother is dead so it's not like she's gonna rise from the grave to watch after her child. Anyways, we had this nanny bot named Aimi-chan and she was the best bot in the entire world," Kazuichi says, eyes sparkling with a fondness.

"One day," Kazuichi's voice grows cold, "I came home from school expectin' to see Aimi-chan like always but there was no one but my dad and a wad of cash." Kazuichi growled at no one, hands clenching to fists.

"He'd sold her to one of those programmers, the ones that re-wire an entire bot. The programmer thought she was pretty, wanted to turn her into a pleasure bot." Kazuichi grits his teeth. "So my dad fuckin' sold her off, like she wasn't worth anythin' or..." Kazuichi shakes his head.

"Point is, Aimi-chan showed me bots can be humane, that bots aren't beneath human or anythin' like that. Yer' worth more than yer' programmed to believe," he states.

Touko's brow furrows. "A-and how? You just told m-me some s-sob story, y-you didn't give a-any evidence, th-therefore your ar-argument is invalid," responds Touko bitterly.

Kazuichi groans. This AI bot was proving harder to deal with than he'd thought.

"Urgh, I mean I grew up with a bot, and because of that, I know that yer' worth more than what you're told. I know that robots can have feelin's despite being a digital human,"

"We're p-programmed like that," Touko argues.

"Were ya' programmed to be upset about losing your former owner?" asks Kazuichi, crossing his arms.

Touko opens her mouth but falls silent.

"Or were ya' programmed to argue with yer' owner? Yer' a companion bot, are you not? Companion bots are suppose'ta pretty much agree with everythin' their owner says, and yet here you are, arguing with me,"

"You're n-not my o-owner," growls Touko, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Last time I checked, ya' have my ownership chip in your owner-ship slot. I found ya' without one, so technically I am your owner," Kazuichi answers, leaning against the table now. Touko feels even more annoyed. He does the same weird verbal tic of switching out ' _Yer', Your'_ and _'You're'_ and she hates it.

Touko sits quietly, mouth closed.

"Tr-trust me, y-you're making a mi-mistake by keeping m-me here," Touko announces after a second of thought.

"I make a ton of mistakes everyday, one more isn't gonna hurt me," retorts Kazuichi, pushing loose hair out of Touko's face to look at her more clearly. Her eyes are a beautiful, entrancing lilac-grey and he finds himself going stiff in slight surprise.

He finds Touko cute, but not like he'd date her. Her personality is a little unsettling, due to how much she accuses without evidence. She definitely isn't Sonia.

She flinches away from his touch, mouth pressed together in a thin line and eyebrows furrowing.

"So y-you admit I-I'm a mistake?" she proclaims, curling back up again. She wishes she were still deactivated. It would be better than this.. _Torture_ of knowing she truly had been thrown out instead of trying to make believe that she'd shut down unexpectedly.

"I only went along with what ya' said. And even if ya' were I wouldn't just dispose of you. It's like that shitty artistic sayin' or whatever... There's no such thing as a mistake? Eh, point is, a really cliche sayin' says what once was a mistake can turn out better than ya' originally thought," Kazuichi shrugs, really done caring at this point. Now that's she's calmed down, at least.

He glances at his watch and whistles. "Well, c'mon," he suddenly proclaims, standing up and beginning to leave the room.

"Wh-where are you g-going?" inquires Touko, scooting to the edge of the table and letting her legs dangle off the edge.

"Well, I was plannin' on goin' shoppin' for you 'cause I highly doubt you wanna go parading around in my clothes," Kazuichi responds, leaning against the door frame to look back at her.

"I-I didn't a-ask for y-you to b-be nice to m-me so y-you can s-stop your s-sick prank and j-just leave m-me like e-everyone else do-does!" Touko replies, hugging herself.

"I didn't ask if ya' wanted me ta' treat ya' nicely. I'm treating you nicely because I want to," Kazuichi clarifies, shrugging at her. She's testing his paitence but he reminds himself that this bot must've been through a lot to simply jump from constant conclusions to the next.

Touko glances down at herself again and sighs, standing off the table and nodding. She hunches over with lack of confidence as she makes his way over to him, bumbling about.

"F-fine, b-but if this i-is some s-sort of pr-prank-"

"It's not a prank,"

"..."

Sighing, Kazuichi walks towards his room, Touko following behind him. He'd moved out of his father's house ages ago so he'd be within Hope's Peak Academy's range, making it easier to get there. He could've gotten a dorm, but he decided against it, he wanted room to build all sorts of things and he didn't want a terrible roommate if lady luck wan't on his side. He also has his part-time job as a repair-man in his downstairs garage.

He isn't living the high-life, but it isn't like he's suffering or anything.

Finally reaching his room, he throws open the door and scours his messy room for something suitable for the robot.

He pauses.

 _What's her name?_

He turns suddenly, startling Touko. She takes a step back, as if expecting to be back-handed for something she'd done, despite doing nothing at all. Her face is turned to the side, eyes clenched shut, hands clasped together and pressed against her collarbone.

Kazuichi blinks, standing there awkwardly as she comes to her senses and realizes she isn't going to be hit for her actions. Kazuichi clears his throat and asks the question.

"Eh, I totally forgot to ask, what's yer' name?"

"Your," she instantly corrects, before realizing he's just asked a question.

Kazuichi's nose wrinkles up. "That's a pretty stupid name,"

"N-No, I mean, m-my name is... Urgh, n-not like y-your gonna remember it, b-but it's T-Touko. J-just Touko," she says, twiddling with her fingers. "W-when I said 'Your' I was a-aiming to c-correct what you'd said earlier, b-because you s-slur the word i-into 'yer' and I just..." Touko shakes her head, dismissing the whole topic completely. What is she doing? Talking back to her owner like this? Byakuya-sama would never excuse this if she were still his AI bot.

"Well, whatever, let's just find you somethin' else to wear," Kazuichi finally responds, walking into his messy room fully.

Touko takes a step into his room and cringes. "What a-are you? A p-pig?" she grumbles, distastefully kicking a blue track-suit to the side.

"I've got the hair color for it," Kazuichi simply responds, going along with it.

Touko's lips purse together. "Y-your hair i-is h-hot p-pink," she points out.

"Yeah, but it's still pink," he replies.

"That d-doesn't r-really help y-your argument," Touko snorts.

"Hmm, okay here's my evidence. Pigs are pink, my hair is pink, there," he concludes nodding his head.

Touko chuckles into her fingers, rather childishly. Usually, Kazuichi would argue back, get mad, but he feels proud to make the bot, who'd been accusing him earlier giggle. The bot that seems convinced she isn't worth as much as she really is. Touko is like a turtle, hiding away in her shell and slowly- _ever so slowly_ -coming back out.

Finally he finds an old-tracksuit of his, small enough to fit Touko paired with a white undershirt.

"Here ya' go," he says, turning back to her and tossing it into her arms.

She wrinkles her nose in aversion. "T-this color y-yellow is... Dis-disfavoring," she observes, folding the suit up nicely along with the undershirt. She sets the articles of clothing on his bed and easily strips off his sweater.

"W-wait!" screeches Kazuichi, diving out the door. "D-don't change in front of me!" he hisses through the door. Most times, Kazuichi would probably stare in interest, despite how rude that sounds, it's true. However, with Touko it feels slightly more embarrassing for some reason. It shouldn't even matter to him, he's already seen her naked.

Touko's eyebrows furrow together at Kazuichi's actions. She doesn't see why it matters, she'd changed in front of Byakuya-sama countless times and he didn't care.

"W-why d-do you c-care?" asks Touko, raising an eyebrow at the closed door.

"B-because... Ya' know.. Yer' a girl!" he points out, gesturing around in the hallway even though she can't even see him.

Touko's brows furrow more. "B..But I'm a r-robot. I d-don't see h-how that en-entirely matters...?"

Yes, Touko had been built with synthetic female genitalia and breasts but it isn't anything exciting. Flat chested with a butt that didn't exist. She doesn't get what makes it so embarrassing for Kazuichi. Besides, hadn't he dressed her in the clothing she had been wearing just moments earlier?

"S-so!?" screeches Kazuichi through the door, "Robot or human, there isn't much of a difference!" he exclaims.

Touko pauses, smile sliding off her face, realization hitting her in the face. He's treating her like a _human,_ like she is his equal, like she is worth more than the power-core in her chest, than the wiring in her technical hatch and the programming in her memory cards.

 **[WARNING FACIAL FEATURE HEAT FUNCTIONS, CURRENTLY OVERHEATING]**

She pats her face and sure enough, they are warm. She glances into the closest mirror to see her cheeks are aflame with color. She pats her cheeks harder, as if it'll make the blush go away.

The only time Touko has ever been considered human was when Byakuya-sama was still a child, and that was before he even knew she was a robot. Although, a little before his mother really pounded the idea that robot were beneath them he was rather kind still. She doesn't remember when that began to change and thinking about it makes her nostalgic. When did Byakuya-sama begin to truly believe she is beneath him?

Her cheeks cool down slightly after a few seconds and Touko continues with her task of changing. She decides to keep on the boxers and simply throws on the white under-shirt. Quickly she shoves on the yellow tracksuit before opening the door to exit the room. Kazuichi is leaning against the wall and he instantly turns to her but stops short.

She's cute. Insanely cute. Not quite beautiful, like Sonia, like a sort of air of innocence. The tracksuit is a little big on her, the sleeves drooping off and pants collecting around her feet as she walks forward.

"D-do you have a-any ha-hair ties? I-I want t-to braid m-my hair," Touko states.

Kazuichi snaps out of it and pulls off one of the spare hair-tires on his wrist. Usually he ties his hair when repairing things so it doesn't get in his face so he has some extra-hair ties on his wrist.

He hands her one without question.

"U-um.. Can I have one m-more?" she asks cautiously, as if she might've been asking for too much.

"Sure," he responds lightly, handing her the second one on his wrist.

She slips one onto her wrist, reaching back to part her hair and begin braiding one of her long, _long_ braids. After a moment of staring at her, Kazuichi gestures for her to follow as she does her hair, and together the two leave the house.

 **|| Loading... ||**

Touko's eyes linger on the sailor-school uniform with a long skirt, eyes glittering.

Usually she wore a maid's uniform, consisting of a Togami green skirt that puffed out with a white button down shirt. She'd wear mary-janes, coupled with a pair of white socks along with that. But this uniform took her interest.

Touko had never changed out of her maid outfit unless it was into her sleep-wear or something the traditional (still Togami Green and white) kimono for special events Byakuya threw. In fact, Touko has barely ever gone outside, and to see the inside of a clothing shop makes her feel blessed.

She hates the feeling inside her that is traitorously whispering _'Isn't this great? Aren't you happy? I'm so glad Byakuya threw us away,'_. She hates herself. All she needs to do is play nice than find Byakuya-sama, not prance around with a boy who has bright pink hair, sharp, shark teeth who rummages through robot waste-lands and dresses AI bots in race-car boxers.

Kazuichi catches her mystified look. "You wanna try it on?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

Touko squashes her hope, coughing slightly. "Uh, n-no, just... Caught m-my eye," she mumbles, glancing away from the clothing only to glance back every few seconds.

It's probably expensive, too expensive for someone as low as her. A _robot?_ Parading in _human clothes_ rather than _servant wear?_ What a thought.

"Err... Ya' sure? Look, I know yer' still caught on this whole... 'Beneath man', or whatever but I wanna do this for ya',"

Okay, this has to be a joke. No one would wanna do this for her. Everyone wants her gone, she's trash. _Utter garbage-_

"Hm, yer' not listenin' are you? Well, then, uhh.. As yer' master I.. Uhh... _Demand_ that you tell me what'cha like so you can.. Um.. try it on," Stammers Kazuichi, waving around his fingers as small gestures.

Touko feels stiff. He went to the point of even demanding her to look for stuff? Touko feels... Touko feels...

 **[WARNING OIL DUCTS LEAKING]**

Touko blinks in surprise and quickly raises the tracksuit sleeve to wipe away the tears of happiness, hoping Kazuichi hadn't seen. Luckily for her, he's utterly clueless.

"I-I wanna try it on," admits Touko quietly, reaching out to touch the material underneath her skin. It felt soft, silky, smooth. Decorated with an orange neck-tie and minor white lines tracing around the edges of the skirt, Touko wants to wear it.

"C-can... Can I-I?" she asks softly, grasping the hem of the skirt.

Kazuichi gives her a smile, shrugging. "Do ya' wanna?"

She nods slowly, grabbing the skirt and the matching shirt and holding them against her chest. She turns to Kazuichi, smiling widely, innocently. Although it's a little crooked, she continues to smile. "Th-thank you!"

Kazuichi grins at her, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. She doesn't have to thank him, he doesn't understand why she does. Well, then again she'd seemingly served under a household that held strongly to the belief robots were beneath them so maybe she feels the need to thank him for everything he does for her.

They walk through the store some more, Touko picking out another similar outfit, consisting of black pencil skirt and black jacket top brandished with copper buttons and a white collar. There are a few other items tossed in along, a white sun dress as well as a small, pink dress. A short black skirt with a matching top. Another sailor school-uniform and a colorful, yellow and pink jersey jacket with matching shoes. A denim jacket. Several pairs of shoes were thrown in and Kazuichi became concerned for his wallet.

It's not like he's poor or anything, he's actually going well with money from his repair job as well as helping out his kohai, Mondo-san, and his gang with engine upgrades so it isn't like he can't spend all his money.

Still, though...

However, Touko looks so happy, definitely happier than she had this morning and despite just becoming friends with the bot, he wants to make her happy unlike her former owner.

"Uumm.. I've n-never really b-been good with f-fashion.." stammers Touko from inside the changing booth. "S-so don't la-laugh at me!" she adds quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna laugh at ya'," retorts Kazuichi, smiling to himself.

Hesitantly, the door is pushed open and Touko steps out, wearing the first outfit she'd chosen. She giggles, playing with the neck-tie.

"I-I've never gone t-to school before, b-but it a-always seemed s-so nice..." coos Touko, twiddling with the skirt now as she twists her leg. "B-yakuya-sama h-had a uniform.. H-he never wo-wore it but... I a-always wo-wondered what i-it'd be l-like to go to high-school," admits Touko sullenly, clutching the fabric of the skirt as a sad aura billows around her. However, after a few seconds, Touko quickly snaps out of it, turning to Kazuichi.

"I-I don't l-look bad, right?!" she asks, startled.

"No, you look nice," responds Kazuichi, giving her a thumbs up.

Touko looks a bit taken aback, as though she'd never heard anyone say that.

"N-no! Y-you're lying, t-totally. S-something l-looking nice? O-on m-me?!" Touko mumbles, hands clenching the skirt tighter. Her voice sounds scandalized, like such a thought is impossible.

"U-ughh, what w-was I thinking? I-I probably l-look a-awful. Wh-what am I s-saying? I al-always look awful!" Touko mutters to herself

"N-no! Really, ya' look good," Kazuichi says, arms gesturing wildly. He pauses, turning bright red. "I-I mean that, not in a creepy way, I swear!" he adds, gesturing more.

"Besides, as long as yer' happy with it, no one should haf'ta tell ya' what you have ta wear,"

Touko seems hesitant and still looks uncertain, but she nods. "...O-okay, then I'm getting this.. If it's alright with you," She informs, smiling as she stares at the skirt.

She tries on everything, and every time Kazuichi tells her she looks cute she flusters and accuses him of lying. It seems they still have a long way to go before she can fully trust him.

And at the end of everything, Touko exits the shop wearing a yellow dress coupled with white socks and blue shoes.

"I thought ya' said yellow was _'Disfavoring'_ ," teases Kazuichi holding the tracksuit and white undershirt. Touko had insisted upon holding the bags, apparently it's the least she could do for him.

In the end, Kazuichi also didn't have to pay much. The little old lady at the counter mistaken them for a couple and gave them a discount.

When they reached the counter, Touko grew nervous she became almost 100% sure Kazuichi would laugh and throw the clothes on the floor, yelling something about how she'd fallen for the prank. In fact she was preparing herself for the let-down, the crushed feelings of hope that had grown in her stomach. But no, Kazuichi walked straight up to the counter, smiling as he greeted the lady.

"Oh, you two are such a cute couple!" the lady had cooed, clapping her hands together. The two had tried to correct her but their argument fell upon deaf ears. Then she noticed Kazuichi was paying. "You're paying for her clothes? How sweet! My husband never did anything for me like that... Allow me to give you a discount!"

Well, neither of them seemed to argue with that.

"O-only your t-tracksuits yellow, this ye-yellow is... It's l-like the s-sun... Even th-though the s-sun is te-technically white but.. Y-ya' know?" Touko asks, seeming excited. "I-I've never seen the s-sun much, I m-mean, through windows, y-yeah.. But o-outside..." She looks up, turning towards the sun. Her sight sensors whir, focusing along the light of the sun as it begins to hide away. Since she's a robot, staring straight into the bright orb in the sky does not bother her.

"I... I t-think it ju-just... F-feels more right, l-like the su-sun should be ga-gazed at f-from the outside. I th-think it's b-better." Touko nods to herself after saying this.

"So yer' owner never let ya' out much?" Kazuichi asks, eyebrows furrowing. What an ass.

"N-no, Byakuya-sama c-couldn't let m-me out. I-it's just.. The T-togami Clan is s-so famous th-that p-people are af-after B-Byakuya-sama's head, i-if they h-had leverage..." Touko's brows furrow. "B-but then again, i-if they u-used me as le-leverage, B-Byakuya-sama w-would probably just l-let them d-deactivate me. I-I mean... I a-am a robot," grumbles Touko, sighing.

Kazuichi doesn't comment on such, opting instead to shove his free hand in his pocket and simply glance at the sun as well.

"Well, I can promise ya' no one's after yer' head here," Kazuichi finally says, breaking the silence.

"Mm," Touko hums, smiling at the yellow fabric in her hands.

After a few seconds, Touko speaks up again. "Th...Thank you," she mumbles, glancing at Kazuichi.

Kazuichi grins at her. "No problem!"

As they walk back home, the traitorous voice in Touko's head speaks once more.

 _'I'm so happy. I like it here, with him,'_

Touko doesn't silence the voice.

 **|| Loading... ||**

 **i... i am excited?**

 **i really like this story so far? I WANT TO CONTINUE?**

 **AhHHHHH hHHHhhhh!11!1**

 **Toukazuichi beGINS. Touko tends to latch onto people quickly, like she gets crushes really quickly and for the shallowest of reasons? I mean she doesn't like Kazuichi yet, but she'll probably be warming up to him in the on-coming chapters.**

 **Touko is probably warming up to him really quickly because she hasn't been treated this kindly since Byakuya was an innocent, untainted child but she still doesn't completely trust him.**

 **Her trust problems stem from how Byakuya just threw her out when she knows he has the money to simply have a world-renounced programmer just get syo's virus out. She is completely unaware that Byakuya has nO IDEA that she's been thrown out, and we'll be going over this in the next chapter.**

 **ALSO. IMPORTANT.**

 **I'M GOING SOMEWHERE OVER THE WEEKEND SO IT MAY TAKE LONGER FOR THE NEW UPDATE TO BE OUT. WE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.**

 **There is an example of the outfit touko was wearing when she left the store on the wattpad version of this sO yeAh.**

 **ANyways, thank you for reading!**

 **See ya'!**

 **Writing-Fantasy**


	3. iii

**|| Loading... ||**

 **to serve you was my duty,**

 **to love you was not.**

 **|| Loading... ||**

 _"Today you'll be getting an acquaintance, young master Byakuya-sama," Aloysius informs, staring down at Byakuya with warm eyes._

 _The small boy, having just turned seven, glances up quickly at the man. "A-cquain-tence?" sounded out the boy, tilting his head."Aloysius-chan, what's that?" asks the boy, looking confused._

 _"It means you'll be getting a friend, young master," Aloysius rephrases, smiling softly._

 _Byakuya giggles, tugging on Aloysius' pant leg. "But Aloysius, you're already my friend," claims the boy, standing proudly. He smiles up at Aloysius who sighs, smile widening slightly with fondness._

 _"Why yes I am, young master," responds the butler, leading Byakuya into another room._

 _His mother is there, along with the rest of his siblings and their mother's. Togami-sama, or his father steps into the room, head held high as he walks to the center of the room. One of his siblings, Kiku-nee-sama leans over to Hachiro-aniki-sama as this happens._

 _"I heard this is where they hold the choosing," she whispers._

 _"What's the choosing?" Byakuya asks, turning towards them. Kiku jumps slightly, surprised he has asked but her eyes narrow on him and she let's out a 'hmph,' noise._

 _"Let's just say it'll be something you'll be living on the streets afterwards," Kiku-nee-sama responds rudely, crossing her arms._

 _"Not like it'll be any different for you," Hachiro deadpans at Kiku. She sputters, glaring at him._

 _"If either of us would win, it'd totally be me. I'm smarter than you and I can already play the flute and piano!"_

 _Hachiro's teeth grit together. "Hm, really? I seem to recall you getting a 92% average on your test scores while I got a 97%!" retorts the boy bitterly._

 _By now, both have forgotten Byakuya's presence, so he turns to Aloysius._

 _"Aloysius-chan, what's 'the choosing?'" inquires the young boy. Aloysius stiffens, glancing towards the small child._

 _"Something you shouldn't worry about yet, young master," replies Aloysius, looking paler than usual._

 _A person walks into the room, unbeknownst to Byakuya that it is actually an AI bot._

 _"Welcome, Young Mistresses and Masters, you've been gathered here today as Master Togami-sama has a gift for each and every one of you," the female AI bot says into the speaker, gesturing to Togami-sama who is on his phone, seemingly uninterested._

 _Byakuya adjusts his glasses, settling into his seat some more as he stares at her. Oh, now he remembers. She's the nice maid, the one that had brought up his food when he was sick as a child. Rin is her name, yes. That was it._

 _She has blackish hair, tinted green with silver, sharp eyes. There are three black dots underneath her left eye like moles, only not. She wears the standard servant wear for the Byakuya household, green skirt, white button-down shirt, mary jane shoes with socks. Nothing that really indicates she's a bot._

 _Byakuya straightened, listening more intently now._

 _"Today, Togami-sama grants you possible heirs, AI bots," Rin informs, gesturing to Togami-sama off to the side once more. He nods his head at the people in the room before busying himself once more with something on his phone._

AI bots? What are those? _Thinks Byakuya to himself, craning his neck to get a better look at what's going on._

 _The satin curtains behind her pull apart and several people stroll inside. Some look vaguely his age, others look around sixteen years old._

 _"They have been programmed to cater to all your needs, be it minimal things or sexual desires," Rin proclaims._

 _Byakuya tilts his head in confusion. What? he hadn't understood any of that. He glances to Aloysius but he doesn't have any reaction to such. T_ _he_ _bots disburse and begin to walk into the ground, greeting many of his siblings. He's so absorbed in the interactions, he doesn't notice the person walking up to him._

 _"Hello," a voice says. Soft, shy, timid. Byakuya blinks, turning towards a girl who looks his age with long hair in two braids._

 _Her hair is a midnight purple, dark and neatly plaited into two braids hanging off the back of her head. She wears glasses, just like him although her's are round with a silver outline. She has a mole on her face, right beneath her lips. She wears an outfit similar to Rin's, a white dress shirt with a puffy, green skirt coupled with a pair of mary-janes and white socks. She's pale, but slightly darker than him and is also slightly shorter._

 _She smiles brightly at him and Byakuya freezes. She's pretty, very pretty. Prettier than his sisters, like Kiku-nee-sama._

 _"H-hi," stammers Byakuya, feeling flustered. He's never had a friend besides Aloysius and his siblings. He's not allowed outside because his life is at risk for being a Togami, so he is confined to the inside of the Togmai household._

 _"You must be Byakuya-sama," she says politely._

 _"U-um, yeah, that's my name," affirms Byakuya, twiddling with his fingers. He glances back up at her. "What's your name?" he inquires, tilting his head._

 _She blinks in surprise before she smiles again. She points to herself as she answers, "I'm Touko, your AI bot. Please take care of me, master," she clarifies, bowing before him._

 _His mother makes a noise of disgust behind him, but he barely notices._

 _"So you're my friend?" he asks, blood pounding in his ears._

 _Touko straightens, tilting her head. "Hm?" she mumbles, tilting her head, braids swaying after her movements._

 _"My friend," repeats Byakuya, "are you?"_

 _Touko blinks, bringing a hand up to her face before nodding. "Yes, I am Byakuya-sama's friend, if he so wishes," she answers, smiling again._

 _Byakuya smiles widely, turning to Aloysius who watches the interactions with an amused grin._

 _"Aloysius-chan, Aloysius-chan!" whispers Byakuya frantically, tugging on the butler's leg."I made a friend," Byakuya tells him with excitement, eyes glittering._

 _Aloysius chuckles. "Yes, young master, yes you have." Byakuya smiles even wider, turning back to the bot._

 _"This is my friend, Aloysius-chan. He'll be your friend, too, Touko-chan!" exclaims Byakuya, taking Touko's hands in his, face shimmering with delightment._

 _"Mm," Touko hums in agreement. She turns to the butler and bows._

 _"Hello Aloysius-san, please take good care of me," she greets, straightening up afterwards. She glances towards Byakuya's mother and bows once more._

 _"Hello Lady Izumi-sama, please take good care of me,"_

 _Izumi glances at her with disgust, part of her lip lifting up in distaste._

 _"Just know your place, bot. You are beneath me," Izumi retorts sourly, sneering at the AI bot._

 _Touko nods, smile not wavering. "Yes, My lady,"_

 _Byakuya stares at his mother in surprise, she'd never treated someone so horribly. However, Byakuya did not open his mouth to point this out, Touko seemed to understand whatever his mother had been implying so he'd leave it at that._

 _"Anyways," Rin calls from the front of the room once more, catching everyone's attention, "You are all dismissed!" She waves and then leaves with Togami-sama into the next room._

 _Everyone disburses, leaving the room several at a time. When almost everyone has left, Byakuya offers his hand to Touko. "Let's go!" he exclaims._

 _Touko smiles softly at him. "Of course, Byakuya-sama," she takes his hand. Her skin is soft and warm, buzzing with life._

 _If only he knew._

 **|| Loading... ||**

Touko has been acting strange lately, and it's irritating Byakuya.

Usually, Touko is timid and soft-spoken, she knows him and his routines like the back of her synthetic hand. She is supporting when she needs to be, eager to help although may sometimes question his motives and such. But it's so Touko, and he's grown up with her by his side. It's not like he really cares despite him often saying it's bothersome.

Now, she is loud, way too cheerful for her own good. Her stammer had magically disappeared (but then again, with her recent check-up they may have just managed to terminate the stuttering virus) and her voice sounds a tad too light now. And there is something odd, because something about her has changed immensely...

Her hair is shorter than normal, Touko has never cut it and he knows she wouldn't. When he was a child, he'd made her promise never to cut her hair unless he was okay with it. Of course, Touko took it very seriously. She took everything from him seriously and kept all her promises, whether it be a promise made when he was seven years old-a promise kept for nine years straight-or a promise made a month ago.

Then, the little mole underneath her lip almost seems... Painted on. It's odd, way too odd.

But the difference is mostly in her personality. She is too willing to do things. It's not like Touko has ever complained on doing things for him, but usually she waits for his commands, not constantly asking for tasks to do.

"Bya~kuya-sama~!" coos _'Touko'_ her voice far to prim and high too be hers.

Byakuya grits his teeth. "Touko, I thought I told you not to bother me while I am busy," responds Byakuya, stiffening as he clenches his fists together.

"Eh? Oh, Sorry Bya~kuya-sama~! Touko-chan will be quiet now!" cheers the bot, making a gesture with her hands similar to pulling close a zipper over her mouth. Since when did she make such childish gestures? Since when did she refer to herself as _'Touko-chan'?_

He turns back to his work, disregarding her. Her presence feels suffocating, not comforting like usual. Maybe something had gone wrong when they extracted the virus, maybe that is why she is acting so oddly. So... _Strangely._

But then again, Touko remembers everything he tells her, despite being minor details at times. How could she forget him telling her not to bother him when busy? In fact, he's sure he's told her at least three times before now, but then she acted like her normal self-Quickly apologizing as if everything was her fault before bowing and standing away, watching but not disrupting him.

Plus, what the hell is up with this whole _'Bya~kuya~'_ thing? Touko has never drawled out his name as such, maybe while she had the virus, but it wasn't even his name she'd strung out like that. When she had been overcome with the virus, she'd simply called him _'Pre~tty boy~!'_

Maybe they had erased the wrong personality? That thought made Byakuya's blood freeze.

Quietly, he set his pen down and sat up, turning to look at _'Touko'_. She stares at him from his bed where she sits (Touko never sits on his bed, she always sits on the ground, she's never felt that she is worthy enough to even touch his bed unless it's him that forced her over there or if she's simply making it), and tilts her head innocently smiling way too brightly (Touko never tilts her head like that, to the point her head is at a totally turned to the side, practically resting on her own shoulder).

"Do you need anything, Bya~kuya-sama~?" asks the bot. No, not Touko, the bot.

He steps closer to her, walking in between her legs, tilting her chin up and tugging her face to his.

She smiles pleasantly and Byakuya's stomach turns. Touko would not be smiling, She'd be blushing heavily, mouth in an uneven line as incoherent words tumbled from her lips. She'd stammer, then open her mouth to suggest something, like he should simply call for a mistress bot because she _'isn't good enough'_.

"Touko, who is the only person I like?" Byakuya demands, feeling his cheeks warm slightly. He doesn't like talking about this occurrence in the past, the day he'd made Touko sleep with him and he'd admitted that he's rather fond of her, but he knows this is something she'd never forgotten.

Once, perhaps a few months ago, she'd even brought it up, but indirectly. Byakuya knows that's what she'd meant though, it was obvious with the timid but cheeky smile peeking on her lips from cornering him.

"Hm?" the bot hums in confusion, raising a brow.

Byakuya stares into it's eyes. Silver.

Not lilac-grey. _Silver._

"Who is the only person I like?" repeats Byakuya, voice icy with aggressiveness.

The bot blinks then it's brows furrow in confusion. "Hmm... Your favorite person is.. Naegi-san, right?" asks the bot curiously.

 _Byakuya knows instantly._

Touko has never even met Makoto, much less heard of him.

This is _not_ Touko and has _never_ been Touko.

His teeth grit together and he steps away from her. From _it._

"Aloysius," calls Byakuya, voice emotionless. The bot before him blinks curiously, tilting it's head again.

The butler walks into the room moments later, hands poised behind his back. "Young Master Byakuya-sama," greets the man, bowing lowly.

"Aloysius, demand Hayato free up his schedule immediately," he glances at the bot, who seems to connect the dots and hunches over in shame, glancing around. "I need to speak to him about this bot,"

Aloysius' eyes shift to the copy-cat bot and he nods once. "Yes, young master, I will call him up immediately." Turning, Aloysius exits the room, off to call Hayato.

The bot says nothing and nor does Byakuya. A sick feeling is twisting in his gut. He tries not to let it bother him, but there is a question echoing in his head, louder, louder, _louder_ within every second until it is blaring, screaming. He needs to know.

 _Where is Touko?_

 **|| Loading... ||**

Byakuya and the fraud bot step into the workshop around five minutes after Byakuya's realization. He'd gotten the bot a day ago, Hayato saying they'd successfully gotten rid her of the virus. But this isn't her, not even her outer shell.

Hayato is working on another bot when Byakuya arrives, his apprentice/assistant, is running around, gathering stray robot parts and setting them in the correct areas.

"Hayato," Byakuya grounds, cold voice ringing in the air.

Hayato pauses before turning back to Byakuya, a smile on his face.

"Young Master Togami-sama, hello! I'd gotten your call from Aloysius-san, how may I-"

"How long has she been switched," demands Byakuya, not wasting a beat.

Itsuki, the assistant, pauses for a second before continuing quicker than before to his task, as if trying to avoid the conversation

Hayato blinks in surprise, "Excuse me, young master?" says Hayato, looking confused, "I'm afraid I don't follow," the robot expert responds, glancing at Itsuki nervously who has paused in his steps to listen again.

"Cut the bullshit," growls Byakuya. The room grows tense. It is odd to hear a Togami swear so openly because it is uncouth to do so and lose yourself in front of opponents. However, because of this, it becomes quite obvious to Hayato that Byakuya isn't willing to fuck around any longer.

"I know this isn't my AI bot, what the hell did you do to her?" snarls Byakuya, crossing his arms.

"Excuse me, if you will, I'll do the explaining," Itsuki cuts in, raising his hand nervously.

Byakuya turns to him, regarding him with a sneer but the bot doesn't weaver. "About a week ago, when you were still hospitalized due to your wound, Touko was contained and sent down here to get rid of the virus," explains the bot, "I got into her system, but the virus she has is... Difficult, so to say. It worms it's way through her memory cards and the only way to truly dispose of it without fully damaging Touko's system's was to replace all of Touko's memory cards,"

Taking a breath and setting the parts he still holds in his arms on the closest working bench, he continues. "We had a meeting with your father, Master Togami-sama, and told him about the risks, there was even the possibility that the virus could be stuck somewhere within her programming circuits which would make her completely useless no matter how many times you switched out her memory cards as well as render the aging programming utterly ineffective. Master Togami-sama decided it was worthless and it would be best to throw her out since she was useless,"

Byakuya let's out a noise, something akin to a snarl. "And how long did you plan on keeping me with this?" he growls, pointing at the substitute bot.

Itsuki glances at her wearily. "That's Yui, the former companion bot for Hachiro-sama. We knew you wouldn't accept any other bot but Touko, she'd been built for you, after all. We tried bringing this up with Master Togami-sama but he couldn't stay around long and simply said we substitute Touko with a whole other bot, simply just change out an extra companion bots looks and bam, another Touko," Itsuki proclaims. He sighs, glancing at Hayato bitterly.

"We didn't send her to the spare parts foundation since all her parts could render the whole foundation with a virus, so we just threw her out. There's a possibility she's still there because it's only been a week or some builder looking for spare-parts could've found her, a bunch of mechanics and builders raid the city robot dump," Itsuki says, "So if you still want to look for her..."

Byakuya stands there and glances towards Hayato, "If you want to keep your job, you better damn well hope you, or anyone else, can find her," he growls threateningly.

Hayato pales (which seems almost impossible with the color of his skin, but somehow he manages to do it), nodding as he gulps audibly.

He turns back to Itsuki.

"I have one last question," Byakuya announces. Itsuki nods, as if to let Byakuya know he is willing to answer. Not like his willingness matters much, Byakuya would've asked anyways. "Did Aloysius know of this?"

Itsuki frowns, but shakes his head. "It was kept confidential between Hayato, Master Togami-sama and I, but since you are authority and asking..."

Byakuya let's out an angered and annoyed breath, looking ready to just collapse in on himself. He rubs his head.

"Take this... _Thing_... away from me, I will retire to my quarters. You better find that bot if you want to keep your job, Hayato, I know it was you who downloaded that extra personality without the safety precautions,"adds Byakuya as he turns towards the door. He spares them one last glance, eyes narrowed, before he turns back towards the elevator and leaves, the question in his head even louder than before.

 _Where is Touko?_

 **|| Loading... ||**

"Naegi," Byakuya calls. It is after school, the boy is chatting up a storm with his admirer, Maizono Sayaka.

Makoto stops talking to Maizono, and both look over at him in question. After seeing Byakuya's serious face, Makoto turns to Sayaka says something that makes her blush, smiles brightly and then turns, waving at her as he walks towards Togami.

"Togami-kun! What do you need?" Makoto asks, smiling exuberantly.

"I need.." Byakuya trails off and he shoves his glasses further up his face, feelings his cheeks heat up slightly. He hates asking for help. The perfect son of the Togami company needing help from some average run-of-the-mill boy. Ugh. "...I have a favor to ask of you," grumbles Byakuya.

Naegi pauses, looking surprised. "Huh? Really?"

Byakuya nearly hits something. Ugh, dense, dense, _DENSE._ "You already owe me, so consider you doing this favor as payment," Byakuya quips, turning away and once again shoving his glasses up the bridge of his face although the gesture is unnecessary.

"Oh... Okay!" Makoto responds, returning to his bright smile. Ngh, sometimes Byakuya just wanted to push him out the window of the school. However he could not, because not only would that be quite uncharacteristic of him, he has a company to run in the near future.

"Wait, what is this favor you speak of?" asks Makoto, eyebrows furrowing.

"I've... I mean, my company has lost a robot containing.. Important information," fibs Byakuya smoothly. "I need you to look through the robot dump to see if you can find her,"

Makoto nods. Byakuya's favor is reasonable in it's own way. "I... I suppose I could look after school. What does the robot look like though?" Makoto inquires, tilting his head.

Byakuya slips him a file containing a photo and extra info on Touko. It is rather vague, but should do him good.

Makoto opens the file, scanning over the contents of the folder. As he does this, Kirigiri Kyoko walks over, her hips swaying side to side, arms crossed under her bust as she walks up beside Makoto.

"Hello," she greets blandly, sneaking a peek at what Makoto holds. She raises a brow and glances towards Byakuya before Makoto can even respond. "Missing robot?"

"Important information," he replies, trying his best to keep everything vague.

"Hmm... Why does a companion bot have important info?" she asks, raising a lavender brow.

"Keep your nose out of my business, Kirigiri," snaps Byakuya, feeling done already from their interactions.

"Togami-kun, that was rather rude," Makoto scolds. Byakuya really wants to shove him out a window. Who did he think he was? His dad? No one could boss him around (unless, of course, they just so happened to be his dad).

"I can help. Was it stolen?"

Byakuya catches himself from correcting Kyoko with a _"Her"_. Instead he clears his throat and shakes his head. "Our head of robots turned out to be a moron. He wrongly downloaded an extra personality onto her file. She caught a virus and they threw her out without telling me. Unfortunately, since they did not inform me, there is still important data located within her files,"

Kyoko renders his story. Her eyes narrow as she processes his words, facial expression and body language. She seems to accept it, although she looks slightly suspicious. "Hm." she turns to look back at the file.

"Your enlisting in Naegi-san's help then?" Kyoko questions.

Byakuya nods.

"I'll just be going down to the robot dump, check around, see if she's there," Makoto informs, waving his hand around. "It's not a big deal,"

Kyoko frowns, glancing back up at Byakuya. "Why don't you go check it out yourself?"

Byakuya scoffs at her utter ignorance to his situation. A detective can't even figure out the simplest of tasks.

"I'm the heir to the Togami company," Byakuya deadpans.

"So?" Kyoko fires back. Although her tone is calm, her brows are furrowed together in a confused and irritated look, probably from Byakuya pushing the work onto Makoto.

"I can't be seen in a robot dump. Do you understand how that might impact the Togami reputation?" snarls Byakuya, crossing his arms and shoving his glasses up his face. He glares at Kyoko through his lens.

The emotion on her face melts away as she shrugs as though it doesn't matter, and suddenly the prospect of shoving her out a window as well becomes very appealing. She turns to Makoto next, opening her mouth.

"I'll come help you, Naegi-san," Kyoko offers, still looking indifferent.

Makoto blinks, her words processing in his brain. He turns to her and smiles widely. "Thanks Kirigiri!" he responds, giving her a one armed hug as he still holds the file.

Her face twinges with surprise and her cheeks dust pink but quickly reverts back to her normal, emotionless face.

"No problem. I am interested in discovering what lies within the robot of yours, Togami-san," Kirigiri proclaims.

Byakuya simply stares back at her, both of their eyes narrowed; challenging.

With a hum of some sort, Kirigiri turns back to the files, staring closely. Byakuya places a hand on his forehead, rubbing softly. This whole ordeal has given him a headache, and Kirigiri shoving her nose into his business made it worse.

And yet, he supposed, in the end, it all might be worth it...

keyword: _Might._

 **|| Loading... ||**

Touko fingers neatly fold the last of the clothes and shoves it carefully into her new closet.

She has her own room. Not like the small containment chamber with the walls so closed in that you either had to stand or sit on the floor with your knees tucked into your chest, no-Spacious, big, lavish. Okay maybe she is exaggerating.

There are two large windows, one facing the west, where the world lessened from a city to more of a little community of clumped together houses and one east, which was crowded with the likes of the city, but the mountains in the distance peaked out.

From the perch by her rather large window facing to the west, Touko could see small children playing together, she could watch the sunset and moon set. From her perch on the window facing to the east she could watch the city full of life as people crossed the road. She could see the speckles of colors from the floating traffic lights as well as the sunrise and moon rise.

Kazuichi had probably planned this out after hearing her rant about the sun and how nice it is.

Touko feels her circuits buzz with embarrassment. Oh dear. She pats her cheeks, making sure they won't heat up and over-heat her facial features like they usually do. It's so easy to make them warm up. Ugh.

She shakes her head once more and this time, slaps her cheeks. A sting of pain comes through her statistics but she ignores it. She needs to stop these traitorous thoughts in her head, the ones whispering about how much they really do like Kazuichi, how much they really want to stay.

No! She has to get back to Byakuya-sama, she can't stick around with this... This _pink-haired mechanic dork!_

She tugs on her long, single braid and paces her room. Her room, other than the windows, is pretty dull but Touko loves it. Plain white sheets, pillows upon her bed with a night stand by it. There's a closet in the corner and light streaming in through the window decorated with light blue curtains, billowing like mist. A skylight streams down from the ceiling and three lamps are placed about the room.

It isn't the best and nowhere close to as luxurious as Byakuya-sama's bedroom, but Touko is so happy someone had thought enough of her to give her a room just for herself that it doesn't matter.

She sits on her bed, allowing the noises of the city and the outskirt to trickle into her room. Some chatter, a car honk, music from street players. All so nice. She'd never heard this noise when she'd worked for Byakuya-sama. Her fingers flex out against the white summer dress she wears and she flops back onto her bed, smiling to herself.

Currently, Kazuichi-sama is at school. Admittedly, Touko is slightly jealous, she's always wanted to go to high-school albeit she probably knows far more than that of a high-schooler.

 _Kazuichi-sama._ It's weird, the words in her throat, on her tongue feel foreign but not entirely bad. Thinking about it, she sounds it out to the air before her, turning to stare out the west window. The suburbs currently lack any sign of actual human life besides the structures and she focuses on the swaying of the trees in the breeze.

"Ka-zui-chi-sa-ma," her lips quirk upwards on their own account. She scowls to herself afterwards. The syllables actually feel nice on her tongue, the word tastes almost sweet to her. It feels treacherous-Like betrayal and yet It feels wonderful.

She's a horrible, terrible bot. She should be wanting to go back to Byakuya, not prancing around with Kazuichi-sama-

UGH. _NO!_

It's _Byakuya-sama,_ Kazuichi-sa- ** _Kazuichi_** means nothing to her. She needs to get back to Byakuya-sama. She needs to get- _She needs to be happy and stay by Kazui-_

 _NO._

 _STOP._

She's a robot, her happiness doesn't matter. It's her master's happiness that matters. And her master is Kazui- ** _GODDAMMIT._**

 _Her master is Byakuya-sama,_ heir to the Togami company, youngest of his disowned siblings, the one who rose to the challenge. Yes, it is Byakuya who is rightfully and truly her master, the man she has grown, comforted (albeit not often) and stayed loyal to throughout her youth-Throughout her life.

All her life has been dedicated to Byakuya...

 _...Right?_

Touko pauses, slumping before falling onto her back against the bed, staring at the ceiling.

All her life. What about before then? Before what she could remember? Was she being made then? Created? Programmed? When had she ever really been made? Touko just remembers waking up one day, the text:

 **[ AI TOUKO CONTROL ]**

 **[ AUTHORIZED MASTER: TOGAMI BYAKUYA ]**

over her sight. It felt normal then, like she was meant to do just that each and everyday of her life. Touko once heard Satomi talk about her life before being sent into the Togami corporation, the life inside the factory. Then Raku chimed in and began speaking about it as well. All of them had come from different factories, all had remembered.

Why doesn't Touko remember then?

The single thought haunts her. She couldn't even remember her life before the Togami company, no wonder she was tossed out! She was incompetent to begin with.

Touko covers her face with her hands, minding the glasses. Although she no longer needs the glasses, there is an aching need to keep them, for when she returns to Byakuya.

Then, a sickening thought comes to her.

 _What if Byakuya doesn't want her back?_

Her stomach (or whatever synthetic organ is there in it's place) twists up. She doesn't like to think about that. She hopes with all her being Byakuya still wants her, that, to Byakuya, she is still the only one he likes.

She gulps. Oh, what is she thinking?! Byakuya Togami?! Wishing for some lousy, repulsive, abomination of a robot back? No wonder her par-

Touko gasps, vision turning to black and white, static filling her ears with the distant noise of a child crying in her synthetic brain. Loud thumping-Like someone is pounding on wood then screaming.

 _"P-please! I'll be a good g-girl! J-just let m-me out! Pl-please!"_

Breathing heavily, despite unnecessary, Touko sits up and gets off her bed, pacing anxiously along her room. What the hell had that been? She'd never had such an odd reaction from herself. It must've been the virus tampering with her memories or the circuits within her beings.

Gulping again, Touko sits on the sill of her eastward window, staring onto the crowded streets, biting her lip. Her insides still twist with an uncomfortable feeling, like she doesn't want to get to the bottom of what exactly that weird... _Episode..._ was.

But at the same time, she wants too. Had that been a memory from her time at the factory? Who had been yelling? What had been that pounding on wood sound? What had she even been thinking that had triggered such an odd memory to echo in her thoughts anyways?

And if it was her, had she always had the stuttering virus to begin with? Ugh, she really has been incompetent since the beginning.

Groaning, Touko flops back onto her bed, stomach first this time.

These thoughts were confusing and hard to process. The jumbled stats on the side of her screen are confusing and when she reads her processing statistics they are messy, uneven and-why are there letters running through? _Grr..._ Her software must be damaged from being thrown out for around a week.

She sighs and buries her face into her sheets, content on staying there when a loud screech rumbles throughout the street and the sound of the garage opening. Touko blinks sitting up on her bed. There is talking, muffled throughout the house.

Slowly Touko stands and reaches under her dress. Strapped to her thigh are scissors and she pulls them out before she pauses, staring at the silver weapon.

When had they gotten there? How does she even know they are there? Wait, why are they even there in the first place?

Gulping, Touko shakes her head. Now isn't the time to bare that thought in mind. Her fingers grip the scissors as she descends down the stairs of the house. The talking grows louder and the sound of clanging rings through the hallways.

Is someone robbing the place? And how did they open the garage? A part of her mind thinks it's Kazuichi-sama, but she pushes that possibility aside. Wouldn't he be at school, anyways?

Sneaking to the door, she stands beside it, carefully and quietly unlocking the door before throwing it open to confront the thieving assholes.

A gang of people stop what they are doing and they all turn to stare at her. They aren't stealing anything, simply using the rusty oil can to fix one of the wheels on a motorcycle.

"Who da' fuck...?" grumbles the leader, standing up straight. "Who the hell are you?" the man asks, crossing his arms and staring her down.

She narrows her eyes, her face recognition program going wild with statistics until they finally land upon a person.

 **[FACE RECOGNITION: OOWADA MONDO]**

 **[EXTRA STATS: HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT, 16 YEARS OLD. ENROLLED AT HOPES PEAK ACADEMY-KAZUICHI-SAMA IS ALSO ENROLLED AT HOPES PEAK ACADEMY; POSSIBLE ACQUAINTANCE?-KNOWN AS THE NOTORIOUS BIKE GANG LEADER OF THE CRAZY DIAMONDS. ENGAGING IN COMBAT WITH HIM IS EXTREMELY RISKY]**

 **[FACE SAVED TO FACE RECOGNITION PROGRAMS]**

"O-Oowada-san," she manages to say rather calmly as she pulls the door back to cover her. She stands up straight, barely peaking out from behind the door. "D-Do you ha-have any bu-business within K-Kazuichi-sama's abode?" questions the AI bot.

The boy wrinkles his nose. "Kazuichi-sama..?" Then it seems to hit him and he smiles. "Your Souda-senpai's AI bot! Damn, I lost twenty bucks to Kuzuryuu-senpai... He really does have a bot," chuckles the male. He gives a wide grin to her but it does not help her relax.

He has... _Strange_ hair. Touko is not aware that this is a human's sort of style. It's curly, and sticking outwards her scanners are telling her his hair is in a style called a _'Pompadour,'_. However, the rest of his hair is black, trailing just above his broad shoulders. He's slightly tan, with several scars of milky white mixed with rosy pink stretched across his frame.

His eyes are sharp, in a rhombus shape with unusually long bottom lid eyelashes and odd purple iris's. Though he is smiling, his defined features and sharp jaw give him a fierce look still. He's exceedingly tall, towering over Touko, and rather muscly, with a physique that practically screams _"Ready to kick ass,"_.

"Wh-what are you e-even doing here?" Touko replies blandly, wishing she could just go back to her room and stay there. His rather large build, sharp eyes, ( _odd hair,_ ) and group of gang members behind him, working on the bike, make her rather nervous.

Mondo blinks before he gestures to his crew fixing up the motorcycle. "When I skip school Souda-senpai let's me use his equipment to repair any of my crew's bikes," explains Mondo, "We got one bike where the wheel's bein' a lil' shit, and another who's engine won't fuckin' work, so we're jus' here to repair 'em,"

Touko nods, they didn't seem to be stealing any equipment and even if they had stolen that rusty oil can, Kazuichi-sama could live without that.

Gulping, Touko steps out, closing the door behind her and watching from the entrance. "P-please continue th-then, I w-will just su-supervise," she explains, despite being nervous.

One of the men whistle. "Say, you're a bot, think we could have a lil'... _'fun'_ with ya'?" suggests the man, winking. Touko takes a step back, hand atop the doorknob.

"I ap-apologize, but I-I serve o-only... Kazuichi-sama. M-maybe y-you'll have better l-luck paying a w-women f-for a night. At l-least then she'd b-be willing," snaps Touko, glaring.

The men of the gang laugh and shout long, extended _"OOOoooOOooh!"_ 's in response to her comment.

Mondo laughs loudly and heartily, smirking roguishly at her. "Ya' have spunk, I love it," laughs Mondo.

Touko blinks, tilting her head. _What?_ What the hell is that supposed to mean?Although curious, she doesn't question it.

The man who'd suggested trying to get into her robot parts glares at her, grumbling as his fellow gang-members tease him.

She looks at Mondo, now curious. "I-if I may inquire, wh-why are you out o-of school?" she asks.

He shrugs. "School was fuckin' borin' had'da get outta there. Now I'm here. 'Sides, attendance ain't even mandatory," informs the biker.

"Oh," Touko mumbles, frowning. That seemed awfully sad. Touko has always thought attendance was mandatory for schools. Hm, she must've been wrong. Just more proof she's incompetent.

She turns her head slightly to watch the men oil the wheel.

"Aye! Fuck!Watch it, Takemichi! Ya' got oil all over my jacket," grumbles one of the men holding the bike completely still.

The boy who spilled the oil spares her a single, narrow-eyed glance, noticing that she stares. Her Face Recognition program goes wild once more as they lock eyes.

 **[FACE RECOGNITION: TAKEIMICHI YUKIMARU]**

 **[EXTRA STATS: HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, 16 YEARS OLD. ENROLLED AT SACHITARO HIGH. KNOWN TO BE IN THE NOTORIOUS BIKE GANG, THE CRAZY DIAMONDS AS ONE OF IT'S LOYAL MEMBERS AND SEEMINGLY CO-LEADER. COMBAT WITH HIM MIGHT BE IFFY, STATS CANNOT TELL WHETHER HE IS A GOOD FIGHTER. ACCORDING TO VISION PROCESSORS, HIS STATURE ISN'T THE BEST FOR FIGHTING. BE CAUTIOUS IF ENGAGING IN COMBAT]**

 **[FACE SAVED TO FACE RECOGNITION PROGRAMS]**

He sneers before setting his focus back on the motorcycle. He seems to be a teenager. He has extremely light blonde hair, so light it looks white, his bangs are chestnut brown but fade into the blonde color rather nicely. He's awfully pale, as well as short for someone in a gang, but he has broad shoulders. From what Touko has seen, he has almond-shaped hazel brown eyes, a sharp jaw and a straight nose.

Touko turns her attention back to Mondo, tilting her head. "U-Um, If I m-may ask, wh-what is sc-school ev-even for i-if attendance i-is not man-mandatory?"

Mondo blinks, then chuckles. "Shit, did I confuse ya'? Attendance is mandatory, but I go to one of them _'prestigious'_ academy's or whateve'a, attendance ain't mandatory there,"

"Oh," echos Touko, adjusting her glasses. "I see."

Mondo shrugs, shoving his hands in his pocket and turning to watch his gang test out the wheel. "School should be over by now tho', so." Mondo finishes off with another shrug.

Three gang members roll out the motorcycle and tug another one in. It looks crazy, oddly colored and covered in all sorts of contraptions. Touko narrows her eyes on the bikes.

 **[OBJECT SCAN: MOTORCYCLE CONTRAPTIONS]**

 **[PROCESSING...]**

 **[INFO: THE CONTRAPTIONS ON THE MOTORCYCLE ARE ILLEGAL ENHANCEMENTS TO MAKE THE ROAR OF AN ENGINE LOUDER. THESE ARE OFTEN USED WITHIN MOTORCYCLE GANGS...]**

Touko reads the info, slightly understanding, slightly confused. Why on earth would they want to make their engines louder? Wouldn't that just inconvenience them as it would deafen their fragile human ear-drums? And aren't they illegal anyways, and therefore more of an inconvenience?

Ugh, humans are stupid. But, Byakuya-sama's a human and so is Togami-sama... So maybe just these odd bike gangsters?

Before Touko can reach a conclusion, Mondo notices someone and begins waving.

"Yo, Souda-senpai!"

Touko glances up, eyes falling onto Kazuichi-sama's approaching form.

He smiles widely, shark-teeth visible and all. "Yo, Oowada, what brings ya' here?"

"Had a dead-ass engine and a wheel bein' a lil' shit. We're almost done," Mondo replies, nodding at Kazuichi. He smirks, face beginning to brighten with excitement.

"Oh, dude I got another addition for yer' bike just wait a second i's somewhere over here," informs Kazuichi eagerly.

Mondo smiles, looking pleased as Kazuichi pulls out some sort of (probably illegal) accessory for a bike. The two converse for a bit, Mondo going out and grabbing his bike (Which was rather flashy, full of all sorts of most likely illegal "accessories,") and Kazuichi giving him tips about how it works, what it does, so on, so forth.

"Mmhh... Thanks fer' lettin' my gang and I use your garage, Souda-senpai!" Mondo says once Kazuichi's done explaining. "You ever need a favor on the streets, we've got your back." Mondo smirks and gestures towards Touko as well. "And your little lady bot too, she's got an attitude, ya' know?"

Kazuichi blinks, surprised to see her out of the house. It seems he hadn't noticed her. Touko, use to a more prestigious lifestyle with rather strict regulations, bows respectfully, uttering. "H-hello, Kazuichi-s-sama,"

Kazuichi wheezes slightly with laughter, pointing at her while he giggles before he shakes his head. "Touko, I thought we discussed ya' don't have to address me like that,"

Touko brings her thumbnail up to her mouth and chews on it anxiously, something she's found herself doing more often. "I.. I a-apologize," stammers Touko.

Mondo snorts, elbowing Kazuichi. "Never thought you'd program your AI to be a timid thing," he proclaims, snickering and obviously implying something Touko cannot comprehend.

Kazuichi blushes. "Oi, I didn't program her, okay? She was a throw-away bot, I just patched her up," grumbles the mechanic, tugging on his hat a little.

Touko feels her stomach twist with the words _"Throw-away Bot,"_ but she says nothing, simply standing in place.

Mondo furrows his brows. "Jesus, who the hell throws away an AI bot? Those bots are pricey as hell," Mondo exclaims, crossing his arms.

"Yo, Mondo, let's get back on the road," Takeimichi says finally, catching Mondo's attention. Mondo nods, bids Kazuichi a quick goodbye, even waves to Touko before turning around and heading off on his bike. His large coat flaps in the wind as they ride away.

Turning to Kazuichi, she opens the door for him and let's him in. He closes the garage and they walk into the house in total silence.

"...H...How w-was your day?" Touko finally pipes up.

Kazuichi pauses, then let's out a whining noise. "I was this close to gettin' to be alone with Miss Sonia!" cries Kazuichi, shoving his fingers into Touko's face, his thumb and index finger slightly apart. "But then Gundam got in the way. Again!" screeches the boy, flopping onto the couch once they enter the living room.

Touko snickers, but doesn't say anything else.

Kazuichi-sama is much, much, _much_ more different than Byakuya-sama.

 _(And that traitorous voice in the back of her head whispers that's not such a bad thing)_

 **|| Loading...||**

 **i'm bacKKKK.**

 **IM SO SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN FOREVER BECAUSE LIKE? I GOT BACK FROM THAT WEEKEND VACATION AND INSTANTLY GOT BACK TO WRITING BUT THEN SCHOOL TURNED INTO THIS GIANT ASS BITCH AND JUST BIT ME RIGHT IN THE ASS.**

 **I cannot tell you how many times I've went to bed around 1 am because of school work. I hate everything. Fuck. AnywaYS THOUGH, IM BACK WHICH IS SNAZZY.**

 **I've also been paying attention to my other stories because I need to get updated on them, even though I haven't really yet.**

 **As for this chapter, I kinda lost myself, amidst it. BUT Touko meets MONDO YAYYY. I love Mondo a lot, i figure he was only really gentle to Touko in this chapter because she's a girl. Eventually they'll build a (rocky) friendship. Also Takeimichi because i love this character that we've never met in actual canon fIGHT ME.**

 **THE SEARCH FOR TOUKO BEGINS. Byakuya refuses to admit she's important to him, huehuehuehuehue. The next chapter will probably feature Kyoko and Makoto searching the bot dump together because Naegiri is a thing. In addition to that, Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya are already friends bECAUSE I WANT THEM TO BE OKAY AND IT MAKES THINGS SO MUCH EASIER.**

 **And the beginning. WHEW. Young Byakuya is a ton of fun to write about. I love it because he's all innocent and shit i just ahHHHHhhhhhHHHhhhhhHHHHH and then he turns into a fucking jerk but ah, well, it was bound to happen.**

 **alSO MAIZONO MAKES AN APPEARANCE. I have a headcanon that Sayaka and Touko were best friends like you can't convince me that they weren't. they were. So they'll hopefully meet sometime in the future.**

 **There are a bUNCH of people that play an important part in this story, mainly towards Touko. Like kOMARU FOR EXAMPLE.**

 **Also, where's Genocider? Why were there scissors under Touko's dress? hmmm... Hmmmm... HMMMmmmm... HMMMMMM... WHATEVER COULD IT BE?**

 **Also, the next few chapters should (if everything goes according to plan) include Hinata, Chihiro, Leon and possibly Mikan.**

 **Well, I just wanna edit and post this so yeah, thanks for reading folks!**

 **See ya' Later!**

 **Writing-Fantasy**


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